Glenn Helberg has won the Jos Brink Oeuvre Prize. The Curaçao-Dutch psychiatrist and activist received the prize at the DeLaMar Theater in Amsterdam. The ceremony could be followed via a livestream.
Helberg has been committed to the LGBTI movement in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom for years. He is also active for the entire Dutch LGBT community. With his work he tries to find the connection between different groups.
“Glenn Helberg is de mental health father of the queer community,” the jury concluded. “In a world that is polarizing, Glenn is for connection and opens up to listen. He is very human and works intersectionally. He has now built up an enormous body of work and that makes him a deserved winner of the Jos Brink Prize 2021,” according to the jury report.
Helberg said he was moved by the award. “It is unbelievable that I receive the award. I am so happy.” After that, he thanked two girlfriends thanks to whom he was able to start a family. “I thank that we dared to realize ourselves and do what we wanted.”
10,000 euros and art
The oeuvre prize, a sum of 10,000 euros and a work of art, goes every two years to a person or institution that is committed to the acceptance and safety of LGBTI people. A student of the Royal Academy of Art The Hague makes the artwork.
The prize is named after the television presenter Jos Brink, who died in 2007. It is the seventh time that the prize has been awarded. The prize is awarded on behalf of the Ministry of Education.
In addition to Helberg, there were two other nominees: Sandro Kortekaas, who is committed to LGBTI refugees and Tieneke Sumter, who fights for social justice and equal rights in the Netherlands and Suriname.
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