This year, on 17 December, the Principal Prince Claus Award of € 100.000 will be presented to the Algerian publisher Barzakh Editions at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In addition, ten other laureates will be presented with awards of € 25.000 at ceremonies in their respective countries by Ambassadors of the Netherlands. Since 1997 the Prince Claus Fund has given annual awards to artists, intellectuals and cultural organizations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The 2010 Prince Claus Awards are announced today to commemorate the birthday of Prince Claus (6 September 1926 - 6 October 2002).

Frontiers of Reality
The theme of the 2010 Prince Claus Awards is Frontiers of Reality. Within this context, the Prince Claus Fund has considered individuals and organizations whose exceptional performance not only challenges and changes the boundaries of our reality, but who, in doing so, contribute to the development of society.

Eleven 2010 Prince Claus Laureates

The Principal 2010 Prince Claus Award of €100.000,-goes to Barzakh Editions (Algeria)
Barzakh Editions is a remarkable independent publisher that has created a platform for a new generation of Algerian writers ¬and opened a door for the flow of ideas between Algeria and the world.
Founded in 2000, in the aftermath of crisis and a context of cultural isolation, economic crises and political violence, its name refers to an intermediate zone where souls are in transit, where personal realities are confronted and assessed against other realities. Many Algerian writers had emigrated during the conflicts of the past decades and the remaining writers had few possibilities. Connections with neighbouring countries were limited. Most Algerian literature was published in France, Lebanon or Egypt, expensive to import and thus beyond the reach of the majority in Algeria. During this particularly harsh period when it seemed that the country would become increasingly isolated, Barzakh Editions succeeded in creating a space between authoritarian forces and a powerful Islamist movement that seemed to hold the country in a deadlock. Driven by a passion for books and a conviction that freedom of thought and expression are essential for development, co-founding editors Sofiane Hadjadj and Selma Hellal began to make the work of local and exiled authors accessible and affordable, to encourage creativity and experimentation, and to provide publishing opportunities for local authors, both the established and new voices.
The Principal Prince Claus Award honours Barzakh Editions for giving concrete form to Algeria's voices, for opening up a much needed space for critical reflection on Algerian realities, for building a bridge connecting different languages and cultures, and for creatively breaking through the threatening cultural isolation of the country.