These are the winners of the Piket Art Prizes 2021

Narges Mohammadi (Painting)

Jury's verdict: "Narges Mohammadi came to the Netherlands from Afghanistan at the age of seven. Her personal experiences play a natural role in her work, but what she creates is more universal than just ‘Afghanistan’ and transcends the current discussion. Everything about Narges exudes a great drive to create, and everything she makes is equally well thought out. Her work demonstrates quality and potential."

Katarina Van den Wouwer (Dance)

Jury's verdict: "Katarina Van den Wouwer made a significant impression as a member of the Nederlands Dans Theater, but the prize pertains to what came after: the steps she took to follow her heart and seek new ways to further develop her given talent. Going beyond her own virtuosity, Katarina moves from ‘dance as a performing art’ to ‘dance as an act of living’."

Koen Verheijden (Theatre)

Jury's verdict: "Koen Verheijden is a writer, director, and initiator—a jack of all trades. He stood out with his trilogy-in-progress Nina Bobo, in which he explores his own Indo background. The simple theatrical means and modest directorial style he uses for this turn out to be highly effective, and the intelligent alternations and clever directorial choices are remarkable for someone of Koen’s age."

Other nominees

In addition to the winners, this year’s nominees also included Sam Hersbach and Isa van Lier in the Painting category, Poernima Gobardhan and Goda Žukauskaitė in the Dance category, and Lars Brinkman and Emma Vermeulen in the Theatre category. All nominees received a contribution of 2,000 euros as a form of support due to the COVID-19 measures.

The jury

The professional jury, which evaluates which young talents stand out in each discipline, this year consisted of chairperson Winnie Sorgdrager (former Minister, former chair of the Council for Culture), Martine Gosselink (Mauritshuis), visual artist Joncquil de Vries, Stacz Wilhelm (artistic advisor for the Dutch Dance Days), Isabelle Chaffaud (MEYER-CHAFFAUD), John de Weerd (programmer for Zaal 3 and de Parade), and Antoinette Jelgersma (actress at Het Nationale Theater).

About the Piket Art Prizes

The Piket Art Prizes have been awarded since 2014 to young artists with a connection to The Hague, either because they have developed there or because they make a stimulating contribution to the cultural climate in the city through their work. The namesake Frederik Hendrik Piket (1927-2011), a lawyer and member of the Dutch Senate for the CHU (later CDA), was a great lover of art and culture. After his passing, a foundation was established that aims to annually encourage three promising, professional artists under the age of 30 with a prize.

These are the winners of this year’s Piket Art Prizes. In the front: Katarina Van den Wouwer, Koen Verheijden, and Narges Mohammadi surrounded by the board and the professional jury. Photo by Janneke van Beek.