International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People Association

Mezinárodní asociace divadel Pro děti a mládež


Association Internationale du Theatre pour l´Enfance et la Jeunesse

ASSITEJ

2009 – Petr Nikl

Theater and Visual Artist

Petr Nikl is a well-rounded Czech artist – painter, musician, writer, theater artist and photographer. Petr Nikl was born November 8, 1960 in Zlín. He studied at the Střední uměleckouprůmyslová  škola (Arts and Crafts High School) in Uherské Hradiště. After he was not admitted to the Akademie výtvarných umění (Academy of Visual Arts), he spent a year working in a travel agency, in a marketing department. He studied at the Academy of Visual Arts from 1981 to 1987.  He was one of the founding figures of an artistic group Tvrdohlaví and a member of a theater association Mehedada. He received the Prize of Jindřich Chalupecký in 1995, awarded to the most outstanding artists up to the thirty-five years of age. His work has been exclusively exhibited since 1987. He also publishes original fairy-tales.  He received, for his book Záhádky, a Magnesia Litera award in a catergory a “book of the year” and a “book for children and young people”. Among his most succesfull work belongs an interactive exhibition Orbis pictus aneb Brána do světa tvořivé lidské fantazie.

Petr Nikl´s work introduces multi-genre creations, original musical arrangements, artistic and dramatical expressions, which gave him a distinct style. His art is accessible to all age categories – to children as well as to people of young age or young in spirit.

The committee of the Czech Center ASSITEJ awarded Petr Nikl´s consistent, original and truly inspirational approach to the theater (and not only to the theater, but to the art at all) as an active play where both – a child and an adult – equally keep discovering hidden worlds of creativity and fantasy, and through Nikl´s inspiration, keep transforming each moment into a miracle.

Petr Nikl received the prize of children´s theater for his ability to open the world of children to adults and the world of adults to children… And, in addition, for one of his answers to the question: “which of your professions (writer, artist, musician, actor, performer, or photographer) do you like the most?” he said:”Being a father.”