The Honorary Chairman of the Prince Claus Fund passed away on 6 October 2002.This came as a shock for the Fund’s partners, advisors, the Board and staff members.The Fund received messages of sympathy from throughout the world.The media showed great interest in the ideas of Prince Claus and in the way that the Fund had developed them over the past few years.
The Prince Claus Fund is determined to promote and implement Prince Claus’ legacy of ideas. Hence, the Fund has begun to work on his idea to produce a Sahel Opera.
Shortly before the death of Prince Claus, the Prince Claus Fund organised the Roses in the Desert conference on culture and development in co-operation with the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.This conference was held on 6 September, which is the birthday both of the Fund and of Prince Claus himself. It scrutinised the policies of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prince Claus Fund along with those of institutions such as the Mondriaan Foundation, the SNV, the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Hivos and other cultural and development co-operation organisations. Here, one of the aims was to achieve closer contact between the cultural and development fields along with an exchange of ideas.The policy was also evaluated and recommendations were made for the future.
The next day, on 7 September, His Highness the Aga Khan gave a lecture on culture and development at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, which was followed by the Stars of the Silk Road concert.
The Prince Claus Fund made a conscious decision to focus on music in 2002. The Activities Committee met in Brazil in July and argued for a stronger policy concerning the area of music. Hence, the Fund presented the Stars of the Silk Road concert, and music played a central role in the awards ceremony on 11 December. During this ceremony, laureate Youssou N’Dour and a group of Moroccan and Senegalese rappers performed a piece that had been especially composed for the occasion.There was also an opportunity to present the Afghan singer and laureate Mehri Maftun with his prize, which had been awarded in 2001 when it had proved impossible to locate him in a turbulent Afghanistan.
Language and forms of expression dominated the event in the Hall of Knights.The rappers composed their texts in a mixture of Wolof, Berber, Dutch, English and French while N’Dour sang in his native Wolof. Mohammed Chafik received the principle award for his encouragement and emancipation of the Berber culture and language in Morocco.
The year also focused on communicating about the Prince Claus Fund and its activities in the Netherlands.This was emphasised not only by the above-mentioned activities on 6 and 7 September and the awards presentation, but also by the Urban Heroes lecture that was organised in co-operation with the Institute for Social Studies where the lecture was also held. Ashok Bhalotra, the architect and Prince Claus Fund Board member, Mohammed Al-Asad, the director of the Centre for the Study of the Built Environment in Amman, Jordan (which is also supported by the Fund), and Ole Bouman, the editor of the Dutch magazine Archis, debated the Urban Heroes theme that has been a point of special interest for the Fund since the year 2000. The annual contribution of the National Postal Code Lottery (€ 453.780) has helped to achieve a higher level of communication about the Prince Claus Fund in the Netherlands.The Fund has also appointed a communication officer so as to achieve this objective.
The Prince Claus Fund Journal is published in order to keep the Fund’s international network both informed and involved.The journal began to collaborate with the Indian magazine Biblio, a Review of Books, in 2002.The Fund and Biblio decided to publish a special edition to mark the Cosmopolitanism and the Nation State conference in Patna, India.The resulting Biblio/Prince Claus Fund Journal #8 has been successfully distributed throughout the world.
The Prince Claus Fund heeded the recommendations made in the 2001 Evaluation Report and embarked on their implementation in 2002.These consisted of: a higher level of communication in the Netherlands; greater insight into the decision-making process; a more effective system of archiving; a greater emphasis on the discussion of culture and development both in the Netherlands and abroad; and the international network’s continued development and reinforcement.
