Laudatio held by Princess Margriet at the Award for Cultural Diversity ceremony in the Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg

Laudatio

Your Excellencies, distinguished guests and most of all, dear laureates,

We are here this evening to honour two outstanding, creative individuals; two people whose work opens our eyes and minds to vital aspects of cultural diversity. As relations between cultures grow in complexity, such creative individuals are needed more than ever, their powerful imaginations changing the way we think, broadening our horizons, taking us beyond our own cultural comfort zones and along new Routes.

Fifty nominations for this award were made by a large network of experts from various regions and cultural disciplines. And in May 2009, the Jury selected two from this number: Borka Pavićević and Stefan Kaegi.

Their work and the conditions they work in differ. But they have some crucial traits in common. Dramaturge Borka Pavićević and theatre-maker Stefan Kaegi both push the borders of theatre, using its space as an open forum for performers, those 'experts' who enable a changing society to express itself.

For Borka Pavićević, theatre has a democratic potential that transcends cultural prejudices. Stefan Kaegi reveals how performances can bring people together beyond the geographical limits of a fixed place.

I will now read the jury's report.

Borka Pavićević

Born on the Adriatic coast in Kotor, Montenegro, Borka Pavićević is a dramaturge and tireless cultural activist who has worked across the region of former Yugoslavia. She has devoted her career to all art forms, and particularly theatre as a podium for debate and public expression that conjures new possibilities beyond a numbing politics of fear and the short-sightedness of any kind of extremism. In 1995, Borka Pavićević opened the Centre for Cultural Decontamination, an independent, non profit centre in Belgrade that has become a dynamic space for innovative, hybrid theatre; the Centre also holds exhibitions in its courtyard and across the city. Under Borka Pavićević's inspiring leadership, the Centre has grown into an open space for creative minds to articulate their responses to events around them; a venue in which individuals from the region can work freely together. The 2009 Routes Award is recognition of Borka Pavićević's positive energy and defiant optimism for keeping diversity alive and reviving the spirit of liberal arts and public discourse under truly difficult conditions.

Stefan Kaegi

Born in Switzerland, living in Berlin, working in cities across Europe and the world, Stefan Kaegi is a true global nomad. Under the label of Rimini Protokoll, Stefan has developed a documentary form of theatre that explores the unseen networks between different cultures, cities, countries and continents. Stefan investigates the invisible realities and unexpected situations of everyday life beyond the headlines, behind the statistics. Theatre becomes a space for performers - not professional actors, but very diverse individuals - to tell something of their expertise and subjective experiences. People - from children to the elderly, truck drivers to aero physicists, heart surgeons to policemen - all take centre stage. Stefan Kaegi never stops experimenting: through his combinations of virtual and physical spaces, he gives digital communication a human twist, creating a pause, a contemplation that runs deep. Among his many productions, the jury considered Stefan Kaegi in particular for his piece Cargo Sofia, which tells the stories of truck drivers and their working life on the road, along border-crossings, transit locations and urban peripheries, exploring how the transport of goods also reveals stories and places that cannot be seen on a map.

Stefan Kaegi has decided to share his award with two people who have worked very closely with him, Jorg Karrenbauer and Juliane Männel.

It is my great pleasure to present the 2009 Routes award to Borka Pavicevic, and to Stefan Kaegi with Jorg Karrenbauer and Juliane Männel. Welcome on stage!