For several decades, it has been a journalistic and academic “commonplace” that intellectuals, as a class, are obsolete… Voices are now being heard saying that Europe is also dead. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that Europe has yet to be born: a Europe that takes responsibility for its helpless minorities and stands for values \u200b\u200bthat have no choice but to embody (Europe will be multicultural or it will not be). And Bosnia is her self-induced abortion. In the words of Emile Durkheim, “society is first of all the idea it forms about itself.” The idea that the prosperous, peaceful society of Europe and North America is now forming about itself – the actions and statements of all who could be called intellectuals – is the idea of \u200b\u200bconfusion, irresponsibility, selfishness, cowardice… and the pursuit of happiness. Ours, not theirs. Here, not there.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Susan Sontag<\/p>\n
The Susan Sontag Prize for Critical Thinking was established in 2019 together with David Rieff, the son of New York-based writer Susan Sontag. Susan Sontag was one of the greatest intellectuals of the 20th century and an uncompromising critic of political and social events. Sontag came to help the people of Sarajevo during the Siege, and wrote about the Siege in newspapers and other publications around the world. During the Siege, she directed Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in Sarajevo.<\/p>\n
The 2019 Susan Sontag Prize was awarded to Olivier Py, a French director and director of the Avignon Festival, one of the largest and most important theater festivals in the world. Olivier Py is an artist, thinker, social critic, and activist. He has published numerous articles in French newspapers defending the rights of minorities. He writes and speaks against racism and police brutality. In his articles, he defends immigrants. He is a vocal defender of the rights of sexual minorities. He is outspoken against extreme right-wing policies.<\/p>\n
In July 1995, Olivier Py launched an artists’ protest demanding that the French authorities intervene immediately in Srebrenica and protect the Bosnian Muslims. He continued his protest by starting a hunger strike, together with two other colleagues, against French policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/p>\n
Throughout his professional life, Olivier Py has been an example of critical thinking; exceptional artistic creativity and human integrity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"