“What are these borders that money and material can cross, but people can’t?” Ahdaf Soueif In collaboration with the Indian Writers Forum
recording the last passage I kept stumbling, and I was only able to read properly when we inserted the line: “Living in the Mezzaterra today is painful”. But perhaps what was actually painful was having to read out my own words, written in 2004, in defence of the Mezzaterra, the common ground that I would not have imagined would become as shrunk as it is today. This is why I have to thank you, the European Cultural Foundation, for your vision and for your work. Your project, the project of imagining Europe as a common ground is key to the future of Europe and of true democracy. It is a great honour that you’ve chosen me as one of the Princess Margriet Award Laureates for this year. A choice that means that you are thinking of Europe as part of a broader space than those ten million square kilometres ratified by the EU. Because a Europe hiding behind its borders, however demo- cratic and inclusive – will not work in today’s world. The prob- lems the world suffers from are global – and they demand a glob- al vision. The ECF’s core values – "Democracy, Diversity, Trust, Solidarity, Interdependency, Freedom" – are a mockery, if the right to live by them is not the right of all humanity.
The European Cultural Foundation's Princess Margriet Award for Culture is awarded to those who have “shone out in their resolve to find a better way, even in the face of global upheaval, and to shape a future that is more fair and respectful of both people and the planet that we share.” The theme for the 2019 Prize was “Democracy Needs Imagination”. Ahdaf Soueif and City of Women Festival, that is held in Ljubljana, both received the Princess Margriet Award. Ahdaf was honoured for her writing, her activism and for the conceptualising of the Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest), of which she is the founding chair. The annual prize selected her for "courageously merging liter- ature and activism, building a body of fiction and commit- ted journalism that responds to the legacies of European intervention in conflicts outside of the continent’s immedi- ate territorial boundaries.” The PalFest was established in 2008 to support the cul- tural life of Palestine and resist the cultural siege imposed on Palestinians by the Israeli military occupation. It also aims to strengthen cultural links between Palestine and the rest of the world. PalFest, unlike most literature festivals, is a travelling festival. As Palestinian freedom of movement is restricted by the Occupation, the festival comes to the audience, having to first cross through military check- points In her acceptance speech, Ahdaf presses the need for a global vision of solidarity. She stresses that democracy and inclusivity are ideals to strive for beyond borders – that there is a need for Europe to look within itself now. Europe, she says needs to review its past, the role it played in the construction of race, its imperial- ism, its talk of universal human rights today even as it shuts the doors on those whose desolation it plays a role in. Following is the full-text Ahdaf’s acceptance speech for the Princess Margriet Award for Culture: Your Royal Highness, distinguished guests, The film you just watched began and ended with passages from the preface to my collection of essays, Mezzaterra. When we were
Image Courtesy: BBC
And Europe has – as we all have – a responsibility to all humanity. When Europe extended itself beyond its boundaries – as a colonial project – it did massive – and unrectifiable harm – to the world. Not least of it was the construction of “race” as a concept we’re still burdened with today.
54 www.indiaparentmagazine.org
October 2019
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