Premio Franco Quadri 2015 for Heiner Goebbels

On November 30th in Piccolo Teatro Grassi in Milano Heiner Goebbels will be awarded with "Premio Franco Quadri", named after the legendary italian essayist, translator and theatre critic (1936-2011) "A German composer, director and thinker who cannot be confined within predefined categories, Heiner Goebbels is the creator of an artistic and curatorial language marked by a strong political tension. His deconstructive work on theatrical, musical and visual conventions – that reached its peak in Surrogate Cities, Stifters Dinge, and in the recent productions Delusion of the Fury and De Materie – bears witness to the urgency of creating a profound dialogue among different disciplines. Deeply committed to furthering the conditions of instruction in the performative arts, he has contributed to fuelling the international theoretical debate on artistic education with his uninterrupted activity in scholarly research, with his involvement in various prestigious European academic experiences. With a keen eye towards curatorial practices as potentialities in rethinking the processes of human interaction, as artistic director of the Ruhrtriennale (2012-2014) he gave life to an experimental laboratory emancipated from the idea of the repertoire, a chance to reconsider the relations between the various expressive forms of live art – from dance to contemporary opera – by way of intense dialogues with both leading interpreters on the international scene and emerging artists, with a scouting activity that distinguishes him within the panorama of his generation. In recognising the tenacity of an entire lifetime dedicated to progress in theatre, in practical and theoretical research, the Franco Quadri Prize wishes to give further emphasis to the force of this exemplary figure, who has contributed to changing the way of conceiving the relations between theatre and music in our time, extending the knowledge of art to public life."