Piket Art Prizes 2020 for Boston Gallacher and Tessa Jonge Poerink

On November 16 the winners of the Piket Art Prizes were announced. Boston Gallacher won the Dance prize, Tessa Jonge Poerink the Theatre prize and Lorena van Bunningen the Fine Art prize.

Boston Gallacher (1996) won the award for their ‘spectacular creative development’. The jury reported to have been ‘just blown away’ by their performance. In a first for the Piket Art Prizes, Gallacher’s nomination is the second time. Two years ago the jury nominated the talented dancer as an ‘unequivocal promise’. Gallacher danced with NDT 2 from 2016 – 2019, when they joined NDT 1. They have worked with Mark Baldwin and Itzik Galili at the Rambert Company, and at NDT with Marina Mascarell, Medhi Walerski, Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar, and Sol Leόn & Paul Lightfoot.

Tessa Jonge Poerink (1991), who won the Piket Art Prize for Theatre, was praised for her readiness to let go of convention, and her unmistakable presence on stage which the jury called ‘cheeky and shameless’, a testament to an ‘impressive range, especially at her age’. By awarding her with this prize, the jury wants to encourage the actress to create her own work. Jonge Poerink has performed with NTJong and was about to play Cassandra in the company’s Trojan Wars when the premiere had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.

The other nominees were Lukas Karvelis and Hester Seelen (Dance), Shah Tabibi and Billy de Walle (Theatre), and Ciro Duclos and Afra Eisma (Fine Art).

The Piket Art Prizes were first awarded in 2014. They consist of 8,000 Euros and an artwork, which was created by Suzie van Staaveren this year. The ceremony was recorded and will be released on November 20 through the Piket Art Prize’s social media.

Photo: Janneke van Beek