The 2014 Prince Claus Awards Committee recently announced the 11 laureates who were granted to honor their pioneering work in culture and development.

Artist/Curator Tran Luong from Vietnam was one of the laureates together with Principal Prince Claus Laureate Abel Rodríguez from Colombia and other artists from Colombia, India, Peru, Turkey, Guatemala, Chile, Brazil, Philippines, Indonesia and Nigeria.

According to the committee, Tran Luong is awarded for his moving artworks that critique repression, emphasise human resilience and empower the individual through personal action and self-reflection; for his dedicated energy in developing spaces, initiatives, networks and communities for performance and video arts in Vietnam and regionally; for supporting alternative visions in a context of censorship and conformity; and for his commitment to freedom of expression, international dialogue, community enrichment and nurturing younger generations.

The Prince Claus Awards are presented annually to individuals and organisations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean for their outstanding achievements in the field of culture and development and the positive effect of their work on their direct environment and the wider cultural or social field. The prizes include one Principal Prince Claus Award of €100.000 and ten Prince Claus Awards of €25.000.

Besides the Awards, The Prince Claus Fund is also well-known as a supporter of numerous arts and cultural projects worldwide. Many projects and exhibitions in Vietnam have been beneficial from it such as Manzi’s exhibitions of “One Planet” by Nguyen Manh Hung, “Nhà Tây Transforms” by Nguyen The Son and Tran Hau Yen The, “The Broken Chapters” by Nguyen Tran Nam; the multiplex project of contemporary art “Skylines With Flying People”; and the photograph book of photographer Quang Phung “Around the Hoan Kiem Lake”.

PV