Prize winners from Africa and India honored with the Goethe Medal | free press

by time news

The Goethe Medals were awarded in Weimar. The President of the Goethe-Institut recognized the honorees as courageous pioneers in their own society.

Weimar.

Three women and one man were honored with the renowned Goethe Medals in Weimar on Sunday for their work in international cultural exchange. This year’s award went to the multimedia artist Mohamed Abla from Egypt, the historian Tali Nates from South Africa and Nimi Ravindran and Shiva Pathak from the theater collective Sandbox Collective from India.

According to the Goethe-Institut, Abla has been committed to understanding, freedom of expression and diversity in the Egyptian cultural scene for decades. With the “Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Center”, historian Nates has created a central place of remembrance that investigates the roots of the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda.

The Indian artists Ravindran and Pathak critically examined concepts of identity and diversity and fought for a free, compassionate and equal society. The prizewinners presented their works at the art festival in Weimar again this year.

Hope for a more humane future

During the ceremony in Weimar, the President of the Goethe-Institut, Carola Lentz, recognized the award winners as courageous pioneers in their own society who forged productive connections with committed cultural actors worldwide. They stand for the hope that international cultural exchange will contribute to a more humane future, even in difficult times.

In Weimar, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) emphasized the importance of free art and the media as a “heartbeat” for a free and pluralistic society. In times when Russian missiles reduced museums and theaters in Ukraine to rubble and autocracies restricted social freedoms worldwide, foreign cultural policy must continue to be an integral part of German foreign policy, said Baerbock according to the statement.

The Goethe Medal is the official badge of honor of the Federal Republic. Personalities from all over the world are honored who are particularly committed to international cultural exchange or teaching the German language. It is awarded annually on the birthday of the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). (dpa)

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