Perpetuum Mobilε wins the European Citizen’s Prize

Perpetuum Mobilε​, our close partner in the Safe Haven Helsinki Residency Programme, has been awarded the European Citizen’s Prize by the European Parliament​ for the Artists at Risk project, established and run by the association.

Artists At Risk (AR) is a new human rights institution in the field of visual culture. As a platform dedicated to art practitioners “at risk”, the work of AR encompasses mapping and coordinating art professionals at risk, addressing their practical needs and advancing their artistic practice. To achieve this, selected key figures are granted short and long-term residencies at so-called “Safe Havens” – not as asylum seekers, but as invited and honoured visiting art professionals. These are art actors which not only greatly enrich their host countries, but are at the heart of rebuilding their often war-torn countries of origin.

AR’s first dedicated Safe Havens for visual artists are being established in Helsinki, Athens, Provence and Berlin.

Since 2008 the CIVI EUROPAEO PRAEMIUM award is granted annually to 50 citizens, groups, associations or organisations who have displayed an outstanding commitment to promoting better mutual understanding and closer integration between citizens of the Member States; or to facilitating cross-border or transnational cultural cooperation within the European Union, thus contributing to the strengthening of a European spirit.

The official prize ceremony will take place at the European Parliament in Brussels in October.

Congratulations to Marita Muukkonen and Ivor Stodolsky for this achievement and the continuous commitment in this field of work!

Image: Marita Muukkonen and Ivor Stodolsky from Perpetuum Mobile receive the European Citizen’s Prize at the European Information Office, Helsinki. Photo by Eleni Tsitsirikou.