The Mahmoud Darwish Foundation announced Saturday three winners of the 12th session of its annual prize for creativity.
French researcher and historian Henri Lawrence, Algerian plastic artist Rachid Qureshi and Palestinian director Muhammad Bakri won the prize which bears the name of the late Palestinian poet.
Notably, the announcement coincides with Mahmoud Darwish’s birthday (1941-2008).
The jury said that it adopted three criteria while making its choices, including the effective cultural presence of the personality, the contribution to the Palestinian, Arab and international cultural movement, and the defense of the values of right, freedom and justice in the field or through the cultural achievement.
It also Rashid Qureshi for his “tremendous work in restoring all that is human through art, formation and color,” in addition to that “the Palestinian issue” constituted one of his core concerns.
While the award that went to Henry Lawrence was chosen “because of the objectivity of his research and his connection to Arab issues and the Palestinian issue in particular.”
Also, Muhammad Bakri won for his cinematic and documentary efforts for the Palestinian cause and struggle, especially the film “Jenin … Jenin”, which documents the massacre in the Jenin camp during the April 2002 invasion.
