Carmen Romero is the first Chilean woman to receive this recognition for her contribution to the promotion and democratization of culture.
Carmen Romero will be awarded the Goethe Medal 2024, the highest recognition of Germany's foreign cultural policy, granted to outstanding international personalities. This was announced by the Goethe-Institut, underlining that she will be the first Chilean woman to receive this award and the second Chilean personality, after the writer Antonio Skármeta, recognized in 2002.
Romero, who is the founder of Teatro a Mil, one of the most important performing arts festivals in Latin America, impressed the jury as an interdisciplinary curator throughout the three decades of the event's existence. "She is one of the most important public intellectuals in Chile and gives great space to social debate on issues such as human rights, inequality or the consequences of the 1973 military coup. With various initiatives, she promotes the education of children and young people and decentralized cultural work in the different regions of Chile," said the Goethe-Institute's press release.
After learning the news, the also executive director of Fundación Teatro a Mil thanked the recognition through her social networks. "Thank you a thousand @goetheinstitut for this distinction that honors me and is also a recognition of the contribution we have made from @fundacionteatroamil to the cultural development of the country."
Also recognized this year were Claudia Cabrera, a Mexican literary translator and interpreter, and Iskra Geshoska, an artistic researcher and cultural manager from North Macedonia. "These three women share their role as founders and directors of festivals, associations or media that overcome language and thought barriers and establish pioneering cultural initiatives. They have created events with creative formats and have been courageously and innovatively reflecting on the social and political situation in Latin America and Eastern Europe for several decades," explained Thomas Oberender, chairman of the Goethe Medal Award Committee.
The award will be presented on August 28 at a ceremony in Weimar, Germany. In its 69 years of existence, the Goethe Medal has been awarded to a total of 380 personalities from 70 countries.
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