On Thursday, 25 September, when the Joint Jury convened in the Saeima to evaluate nominees for the Baltic Assambly prizes, it decided to award this year’s Prize for the Arts to Alvis Hermanis, Stage Director of the New Riga Theatre, for creative staging of numerous plays, including play Oblomovs.
The Prize for Literature was awarded to the Estonian writer Peeter Sauter for his novel Do Not Leave Me Alone („Ära jäta mind rahule”), 2012.
The Prize for Science will go to Lithuanian professor Dr. habil. Juozas Vidas Gražulevičius for his significant achievements in materials chemistry and engineering, as well as for active collaboration with scientific partners from the Baltic countries in initiating and implementing research projects.
It is planned to award the prizes during the annual session of the Baltic Assembly, which will take place on 24 – 25 October in Tallinn, Estonia. Each monetary prize is worth EUR 5,000.
The Joint Jury consisted of nine experts in literature, science and the arts from Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
The other nominees for Baltic Assembly prizes of this year were as follows:
in literature: • text group Orbita (Latvia) nominated for contemporary and interactive presentation of literature in creative projects, thus highlighting intercultural dialogue in society;• Romualdas Granauskas (Lithuania), prose writer, playwright, nominated for short stories The Expulsed, 2013, a long story Lives of Saints, 2013, and a long story and essays Third Life, 2014;
in the arts:• Merike Estna (Estonia), interdisciplinary artist, nominated for her recent exhibitions;• Modestas Pitrėnas (Lithuania), conductor, nominated for creative achievements that strengthen creative interaction of Baltic cultures, as well as numerous performances in concert halls and theatres in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia;
in science:• Küllo Arjakas (Estonia), historian, nominated for his monograph When Small Were Big. Baltic Way 25, 2014.
Since the Baltic Assembly Prize was established in 1994, it has been awarded to several well-known persons in the fields of culture, science and the arts. In 2013, the Baltic Assembly Prize for Science was awarded to Renāte Blumberga from Latvia, the Lithuanian poet, essayist and prose writer Donaldas Kajokas received the Prize for Literature, and the Estonian composer Peeter Vähi was awarded with the Prize for the Arts.
Information on the Baltic Assembly:
The Baltic Assembly is an interparliamentary cooperation organisation of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, which was founded on 8 November 1991. The Baltic Assembly consists of 12 to 20 members from each country’s parliament. The Baltic Assembly is a coordinating and consultative organisation which has the right to express its opinion to national parliaments, governments and the Baltic Council of Ministers in the form of resolutions, decisions, declarations and recommendations; it can also request answers from these institutions on activities regarding cross-border issues that are on the agenda of the Baltic Assembly.
Saeima Press Service