KARACHI: PeaceNiche/The Second Floor (T2F) has been selected for this year’s Prince Claus award.

The award will be presented by HRH Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands on Dec 15. The 2016 Principal Prince Claus Award will go to Thai film-maker and artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

T2F director Marvi Mazhar said on Monday that it’s a moment of excitement for the team. “I am happy and excited about this, but wish that Sabeen [Mahmud] had been here to see this as this was all her hard work,” she said, adding that the T2F chairperson would be going to receive the award in December.

Sabeen’s mother Mahenaz Mahmud said she was warmed by the recognition of all the hard work PeaceNiche had undertaken since 2007. “I wish Sabeen was here to experience it,” she added.

Sabeen set up T2F, an interdisciplinary space, in 2007 as a not-for-profit organisation that promotes democratic discourse and conflict resolution through intellectual and cultural engagement.

She was shot dead on April 24 last year in Defence Phase-II when she was on her way home after attending a session at T2F on ‘Unsilencing Balochistan’.

Her team has continued her mission and kept hosting important talks, discussions, exhibitions, hackathons and stand-up comedy acts at T2F.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2016