David received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. The T-Shirt that year quoted David on its front: One tries not to fuck it up.
Below are snaps of David’s friends, Peter Macdonald and Madelyn Most at Lodz.
Daniel Barenboim
“Shortterm thinking, or even worse, thoughtlessness, makes many people think that culture, education and the arts are there only to be thought about in good times. In my view, this is one of the most erroneous ways of thinking and a total miscalculation of human development, since it is only education that can be the basis for a better world in the future. Education should not only make culture in general and the arts in particular available to all human beings, regardless of the economic possibilities of the individual, but also ensure that the links between the arts and every other aspect of human life are ever present. Only this way will every artist feel that it is not only his duty, but a privilege to contribute for a better world where understanding and tolerance will bring peace and become a true weapon against ignorance and terrorism. I very much feel that these words are in the spirit of how David Watkin thinks and congratulate him on the wonderful prize.”