Two groups with Jewish links scoop cultural awards in Amsterdam
Forensic Architecture and Borderland get top gongs at the European Cultural Foundation awards in the Netherlands
Two organisations with Jewish links have won the top prizes at the European Cultural Foundation awards in Amsterdam.
Borderland, which connects modern Poland with its lost Jewish community, and Forensic Architecture, founded by British-Israeli architect Eyal Weizman, shared the Princess Margriet Award for Culture, which celebrates courageous citizens using culture as a force for positive change.
Forensic Architecture draws on architectural knowledge and new technology to reconstruct sites of conflict, trauma, oppression and injustice. This has included 3D recreations of Grenfell Tower and Saydnaya, a notorious Syrian torture prison based upon the testimony of survivors.
Its work has provided decisive evidence in a number of legal cases, including a counter-investigation into the testimony of German intelligence officer Andreas Temme in relation to the murder of Turkish-German café-owner, Halit Yozgat, by a far-right group in 2006.
Borderland, by contrast, tries to bring lost cultures back to life through exhibitions, theatre, libraries, workshops and concerts. The organisation is not solely aimed at the lost Jewish community, but it is the one that has the most profound influence.
The foundation even has an internationally-renowned Klezmer orchestra and organises workshops and symposiums on cross-cultural dialogue for scholars and cultural practitioners from around the world.
Weizman said he was “delighted” with the award, adding: “It is important that, alongside the judicial and political, the cultural domain is acknowledged as a crucial arena of struggle for the exposure of the truth about the world around us.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
