The Prince Claus Awards recognize the highest achievements in the field of culture and international development. Every year the awards are granted to 11 individuals or organizations whose cultural actions have a positive impact in the development of their social environments.
Based on the premise established by the Prince Claus Fund of culture as an essential need, the awards recognize the most relevant proposals in that field, in places where resources and opportunities for cultural expression, creative production and research are limited and where the local cultural legacy is under threat.
This year's award went to Oscar Muñoz (1951, Popayán), the well-established Colombian artist known for creating works that question the paradoxes of the human image and its fragility, along with the ephemeral nature of perception, identity and memory. In the Colombian context, his 30 year-long artistic trajectory represents, on the one hand, a strong critique of the role played by the image, its production and consumption through the mass media and, on the other hand, the consolidation of a political reality in which violence and war are a constant part of everyday life in the country.
Some of his most famous works include the installation Aliento (Breath, 1995-2002), the video Re/trato (2004) and other pieces in which faces drawn with charcoal are slowly deformed under water until they disappear through the drain in several continuous loop video recordings.
Muñoz is also Cofounder (2006) and Artistic Director of Lugar a Dudas in the city of Cali, a cultural space with a valuable visual arts archive and library. The venue also offers artistic residencies and laboratories for research and critical analysis, and has been instrumental in the activation and revitalization of culture at the local level.
On December 11, 2013, his Royal Highness, Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, will present Egyptian poet Ahmed Fouad Negm with the main award. Besides Oscar Muñoz, the other winners of the award are: Zanele Muholi (photographer, South Africa); Naiza Khan (visual artist, Pakistan); Teater Garasi (laboratory of performing arts, Indonesia); Alejandro Zambra (writer, Chile); Orquesta de Instrumentos Reciclados Cateura (Paraguay); Idrissou Mora-Kpaï (documentary filmaker, Benin); Lu Guang (photographer, China); Carla Fernández (designer and historian, Mexico); and Christopher Cozier (cultural activist and visual artist, Trinidad & Tobago).