Isla Clarke wins Piket Art Prize!

On October 10, the Piket Art Prize in the category Dance was awarded to NDT 1 dancer Isla Clarke, during the ninth edition of the Piket Art Prizes in De Nieuwe Regentes, The Hague. In addition to Isla, India Sardjoe and Faile Sol were also nominated in the same category.

About her dance talent, the professional jury of the Piket Kunstprijzen judged as follows: “Isla Clarke, dancer with NDT 1, is unique in several ways. First of all, she is a remarkable dancer with tremendous charisma and an entirely unique way of moving. Her dancing shows the depth of her life – how she strives to express herself in a way that truly reflects where she is at any given moment. In addition, Isla is a trans woman in the process of her transition. The jury wants to honor and celebrate Isla’s journey.”

In addition to this year’s winners, Daniele Formica and Janne Schipper were also nominated in the Painting category, Faile Sol and India Sardjoe in the Dance category and Billy de Walle and Nick Renzo Garcia in the Drama category.

The final winners (one per category) will receive a cash prize of 8,000 euros and an award. This year, artist Kim David Bots is creating the trophy. The 2022 professional jury was be formed by Lea van der Vinde (director Huygens’ Hofwijck and Huygens’ Swaensteyn), Joncquil de Vries (artist Joncquil), Isabelle Chaffaud (MEYER-CHAFFAUD) and Amos Ben-Tal (OFFprojects), John de Weerd (Hall 3/De Parade) and Ellen Goemans (actress, lecturer/mentor HKU).

The Piket Art Prizes have been awarded since 2014 to young artists who have a connection to The Hague, because they have flourished there or because their work makes a stimulating contribution to the cultural climate of The Hague. Namesake Frederik Hendrik Piket (1927-2011), lawyer and member of the Upper House for the CHU (later CDA), was a great lover of art and culture. After his death, a foundation was created to annually encourage three promising, professional artists up to age 30 with an award.