Great party at WestLicht!
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After a magnificent and amusing laudatio by film director and friend David Schalko, WestLicht director Peter Coeln was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art 1st Class. CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE WHOLE TEAM!⁠
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"Peter Coeln is the most important ambassador of photography in this country," Schalko emphasized. "The WestLicht universe is more than just a job for him, it is his life in the most universal sense. With the Cross of Honor, we celebrate the collector Peter Coeln, the art mediator Peter Coeln, the museum manager Peter Coeln, the visionary Peter Coeln, the pioneer Peter Coeln, but also the friend Peter Coeln" - says Schalko. And further: "The WestLicht became an institution, no, a lighthouse, today you get the feeling that the WestLicht had always existed." ⁠
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Special thanks to the Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Minister of Culture Werner Kogler and to the Head of the Arts and Culture Section in the Federal Chancellery, Jürgen Meindl. Thanks also to Dominik Nostitz and the WestLicht Combo for the great music and to everyone who celebrated with us!⁠

Photos: Christian Skalnik & Rachele Moriggi / WestLicht

Read the laudatio