News
Andri Snær Magnason receives the KAIROS prize
The prize will be presented on 28 February 2010. It is under the auspices of the Alfred Toepfer Institute and is intended for artists working in the field of visual arts, music, architecture, film, photography, literature and mass media. The prize is named after the Greek god KAIROS who was the god of “the right moment”, and seeks to encourage and promote young artists. The Alfred Toepfer Institute has for many years awarded prizes in the field of culture and arts.
The adjudication committee based its choice among other things on the fact that the writer has managed to turn the poet's peaceful relationship with nature on its head; rather than just celebrating it, he encourages action. In its citation it says that Andri Snær “does not consider poetry and the struggle on behalf of Mother Nature, aesthetic perception and peaceful demonstration, to be mutually exclusive, rather that they support one another.” It says further that a significant influence on the choice was his book Draumalandið / Dreamland, published in 2006, where he deals with the effect of large-scale industry on Icelandic nature. The press release from the Alfred Toepfer Institute says: “He uses humour and persuasiveness as he lends to an unideological but powerful grass-root movement his voice and his creative talent.”