30r364 boek.qxd:awards book 11 - Prince Claus Fund

2008 Theme: Culture and the Human BodyThe body’s potential as the manifestation of the self, as well as its mortalworkings and physical abilities, are existentially and compulsively interesting.Human knowledge and beliefs are acquired through the senses and trans mittedthrough bodily capacities, consequently the body has a pervasive influenceon our culture. Simultaneously, the culture in which we live, to a large extent,determines the conception and manage ment of our bodies. Cultural normsare inscribed in our bodies. The way they are presented, used, clothed anddecorated, and the practices that shape, expose or restrict them reflect com -munal norms, fashions and ideals of beauty, health, gender and morality as wellas personal pref erences. Both private and public, the body is our means of socialinter action and engagement with profound implications for development. Newpossibilities and ideas expose contradictions in existing body practices, gener -ating intercultural or intergenerational tensions and changes in body culture.As a medium for expression of beliefs and ideas, the body can be a source,model, muse, canvas or toolbox for creation, manifesting the inner world andmotivations of humankind, and the body and its attributes are foundationalmaterial for metaphor and symbolism. In performing arts, dance, theatreand mime, ideas are embodied and made visible through body language andgesture. In fields such as singing and music, the body becomes an instrument,and in the visual arts, it can be inspiration, content or working material. Thebody in context – its complex repre sen tations and relationships – and what thebody reveals about the culture it inhabits are quintessential subjects for literatureand the arts. Innovative ideas or practices can challenge, alter, restrict orexpand existing culturally defined boundaries of the body, making culturalproductions a significant source of understanding and development.Different societies tolerate or promote varying forms and degrees of bodyuse, alteration and control, transmitting and enforcing social and culturalcodes in culturally specified ways, including imprisonment and physical punish -ment. Extreme acts of war, torture, aggression or depri va tion reveal a culture’slack of tolerance and respect for others’ bodies and lives. Yet willingness tosacrifice the body for a greater cause can be a noble act and bodily protest canbe a powerful agent for positive change. The value we place on the body andeach culture’s conception and representation of the human body, both withinits own parameters and in its interaction with other cultures, have profoundand complex impact on life: on self-development, the society’s developmentand on the lives of people in different cultures.242008 Prince Claus Awards