Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen
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ifa Award for the Dialogue of Cultures

About the ifa Award

With the ifa Award for the Dialogue of Cultures, ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen recognises the contribution of individuals and institutions to fostering transcultural relations through their social, socio-political or artistic work.

Supporting the freedom of the arts, civil society and science are key elements of ifa's mission. Today, these freedoms are increasingly under threat, with nationalism, populism and authoritarian tendencies just some of the challenges they face, even in democracies. Since 2009, the ifa Award has sent out a clear signal in support of human rights, democracy, peace, and freedom for artists, scientists and civil society actors. These values are also an integral part of the statutes of ifa.

The winners donate the 10,000-euro prize money to a cultural, charitable and peace-building project or organisation of their choice. The ifa Award was initiated by the ifa Friends' Association.

Until 2019, the award was named after Theodor Wanner (1875-1955), who initiated the establishment of the Deutsches Ausland-Institut (DAI), today's ifa, in 1917 (History of ifa).

 

ifa Award 2022: Osman Kavala

Human rights activist, cultural patron and businessman Osman Kavala, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Turkey, is presented with this year's ifa Award for the Dialogue of Cultures.

The award ceremony took place at the Allianz Forum in Berlin on 10 November 2022. Dr Wolfgang Schäuble, Member of the German Bundestag and former President of the Bundestag, delivered  the laudatory speech.

Laudator and former President of the German Bundestag Dr Wolfgang Schäuble:

Even in free societies, coordination between state and private cultural funding is vital to democratic discourse; in a system that often seeks to appropriate art and culture for itself and its propagandistic purposes, the contribution of patrons like Kavala cannot be valued highly enough. In such repressive systems, the private promotion of art and culture is in demand more than ever as a breeding ground for mature, critical and free thinking.

Osman Kavala emerged as a leading player in Turkish civil society during the 1990s. In 2002, he co-founded Anadolu Kültür, which brings together the arts, business, and civil society to support local initiatives, highlight cultural diversity, and strengthen international collaboration.

Organisations such as Amnesty International Germany, Reporters without Borders, the PEN Centre Germany, the Academy of Arts or the KulturForum TürkeiDeutschland have been campaigning for his dismissal for years. In Turkey itself, ten ambassadors from Germany, the USA, Canada, New Zealand as well as Denmark, France, the Netherlands and the three Scandinavian countries Sweden, Finland and Norway demanded Kavala's dismissal last autumn.

Osman Kavala has selected the organisation Rengarenk Umutlar Derneği ("Colourful Hope Association") to receive a grant of 10,000 euros. The association has campaigned for many years for the rights and freedoms of children in south-eastern Turkey. It has set itself the goal of helping children affected by the recent conflicts in the Sur district in the province of Diyarbakır to cope with their traumas.

Photo Gallery Award Ceremony 2022

Three women are standing on a stage. On the far left is Gitte Zschoch, Secretary General of ifa, who is handing over a certificate and a bouquet of flowers on the occasion of the ifa Prize to the recipient of the prize money, Yeter Erel Tuma from the organisation Rengarenk Umutlar Derneği (Association of Colourful Hope). The third person is Silvina Der-Meguerditchian, who accepted the ifa Award 2022 on behalf of Turkish cultural patron Osman Kavala. © ifa/Plambeck
Four people look up to the stage: Turkish journalist Can Dündar and his wife Dilek Dündar, human rights activist Selmin Çalışkan and Andreas Görgen from the BKM. © ifa/Plambeck
Three people stand on stage facing the audience. To the left is a man, Ceyhun Kaya, who plays the electric flute, in the middle is a woman, Ipek Ipekcioglu, at the DJ booth and to the far right is another woman, Petra Nachtmanova, who sings and has a string instrument on her lap. The musical support of the ifa Award 2022: Karmatürji © ifa/Plambeck
There is a woman on stage, recipient of the prize money of the ifa Award 2022 Yeter Erel Tuma from the organisation Rengarenk Umutlar Derneği, and a man, Imran Ayata. They both face the audience at the ifa 2022 Award Ceremony. © ifa/Plambeck
Five people are on a stage. A bearded man can be seen on the screen in the backrground of the stage. The five people from left to right are: ifa Secretary General Gitte Zschoch, artist Silvina Der-Meguerditchian (representing ifa Award winner Osman Kavala), recipient of the prize money Yeter Erel Tuma from the organisation Rengarenk Umutlar Dernegi, laudator Dr Wolfgang Schäuble MdB, ifa President Prof. Dr Ulrich Raulff. © ifa/Plambeck
A red-haired woman standing on stage, the artist Silvina Der-Meguerditchian. There is a screen in the background with speakers. © ifa/Plambeck
On stage is a large screen with the face of ifa Award winner 2022 and Turkish cultural patron Osman Kavala. He is looking at the audience of the award ceremony, which took place on 10.11.2022 at the Allianz Forum in Berlin. In front you can see some people, the artist Silvina Der-Meguerditchian, ifa President Ulrich Raulff and ifa Secretary General Gitte Zschoch © ifa/Plambeck
View from the audience to the stage, in the background a screen can be seen with the inscription "ifa Award for the Dialogue of Cultures 2022, Laudator: Dr Wolfgang Schäuble, Member of the German Bundestag and former President of the German Bundestag". A man in a wheelchair can be seen on stage, Wolfang Schäuble. © ifa/Plambeck
Four people are having a conversation: two women, the recipient of the award money Yeter Erel Tuma and ifa Secretary General Gitte Zschoch with two men, Member of the German Bundestag Nils Schmid and the Turkish journalist Can Dündar © ifa/Plambeck
The audience looks at the stage. On the right side there are two women, the human rights activist Selmin Çalışkan and Dilek Dündar, then a man, Can Dündar. In the left row is a man in a wheelchair, former President of the German Bundestag and laudator of the evening Dr Wolfgang Schäuble. © ifa/Plambeck

Previous Winners of the ifa Award

2019: Federica Mogherini

  • Laureate: Federica Mogherini, former High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
  • Laudatory speech: Heiko Maas, former Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Recipient of the prize money: Rondine Cittadella della Pace

2017: Silvia von Schweden

  • Laureate: Silvia, Queen of Sweden
  • Laudatory speech: Sigmar Gabriel, former Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Recipient of the prize money: Sociedade Beneficente Alemã

2016: Human Rights Watch

  • Laureate: Human Rights Watch, independent non-governmental organization
  • Laudatory speech: Dr. Bärbel Kofler, former Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid
  • Recipient of the prize money: Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack

2014: Ernesto Cardenal

  • Laureate: Ernesto Cardenal, politician and theologian
  • Laudatory speech: Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert, former President of the German Bundestag
  • Recipient of the prize money: Pan y Arte / Solentiname

2013: Yoko Ono

  • Laureate: Yoko Ono, artist
  • Laudatory speech: Dr. Guido Westerwelle, former Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Recipient of the prize money: PAWA254

2011: Jacques Delors

  • Laureate: Dr. h.c. Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission
  • Laudatory speech: Dr. h. c. Hans-Dietrich Genscher, former Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Recipient of the prize money: Notre Europe

2010: Carla del Ponte

  • Laureate: Carla del Ponte, lawyer
  • Laudatory speech: Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Jutta Limbach, former President of the Federal Constitutional Court
  • Recipient of the prize money: Fondazione Falcone

2009: Daniel Barenboim

  • Laureate: Dr. h. c. Daniel Barenboim, conductor
  • Laudatory speech: Dr. h.c. Joschka Fischer, former Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs 
  • Recipient of the prize money: West-Eastern Divan Orchestra