2021 Praemium Imperiale Awards, Architecture Laureate, Architect, Japan Art Association Award Winners News

2021 Praemium Imperiale Awards News

14 Sep 2021

The Japan Art Association and Lord Patten of Barnes, Praemium Imperiale’s International Advisor in the UK, have today announced the recipients of the 2021 Praemium Imperiale Awards:

2021 Praemium Imperiale Awards Winners

Painting: Sebastião Salgado (France/Brazil)

photo © The Japan Art Association / Shun Kambe

Sculpture: James Turrell (USA)

photo © The Japan Art Association / Yutaka Sato

Architecture: Glen Murcutt (Australia)

photo © Anthony Browell

Music: Yo-Yo Ma (USA)

(USA)

Yo-Yo Ma performing in Mumbai, India, as part of the Bach Project (2019) © Austin Mann

Each Laureate receives an honorarium of 15 million Yen (c. £100,000). The awards are given by the Japan Art Association under the honorary patronage of His Imperial Highness Prince Hitachi, younger brother of the Emperor Emeritus of Japan. In addition to the Praemium Imperiale Awards, the 5 million Yen (c. £33,000) Grant for Young Artists has been awarded to The Central Institute for Restoration, founded in 1939 with the aim of conserving and restoring Italy’s cultural and artistic heritage, threatened at the time by the outbreak of the Second World War. The Grant will fund 30 student research projects.

The internationally renowned photographer Sebastião Salgado will be the subject of a major exhibition at London’s Science Museum this autumn (13 October 2021 – March 2022). The series of 200 breath-taking black and white photographs are drawn from his latest work, Amazônia, a seven-year study of the Amazon ecosystem and the way of life of its indigenous people.

The book, Amazônia, was published in May this year. Salgado and his wife Lélia moved to France in 1969 as political refugees from Brazil. Initially trained as an economist, he took up photography full time in 1973. He works thematically, using only natural light, his photos posing serious questions about the imbalance of wealth and the impact of wars and disasters. Since the 1990s, he has been actively involved with environmental and reforestation issues through the Instituto Terra organisation that he and his wife established in his home in Brazil.

Lord Patten remarked: ‘Hot on the heels of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics that captured the world’s imagination, this year’s Praemium Imperiale serves as an opportune reminder of the important contribution that Japan has made in honouring achievement in the arts. As artists and cultural organisations around the world begin to recover from the devastations of the past 18 months, I hope this year’s laureates and their important contribution to civilisation will be a source of inspiration for fellow artists, governments and arts lovers.’

Since 1989, the Praemium Imperiale Awards have been given annually in the categories drawn from Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Music and Theatre/Film to cover fields of achievement not represented by the Nobel Prizes. The Laureates are selected from a list submitted by six International Advisors to the Japan Art Association.

While maintaining the Awards’ original mandate to select candidates who have made a major international impact in their particular field, the International Advisors for the Awards and their committees have been looking beyond their national boundaries for ground-breaking artists to recommend to the Japan Art Association. Former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe has been appointed the latest International Advisor, presiding over the Asian Nomination Committee. He succeeds the late former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone who passed away in November 2019.

Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre, 1996 – 99, NSW, Australia © Anthony Browell, Courtesy of TOTO Publishing

• £400,000 award given by the Japan Art Association under the honorary patronage of His Imperial Highness Prince Hitachi, younger brother of the Emperor Emeritus of Japan

• The Advanced Training School of the Central Institute for Restoration (Italy) receives Grant for Young Artists

• Former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe to become International Advisor to the Award, presiding over the Asian Nomination Committee

Previous British winners include David Hockney, Mona Hatoum, Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, David Chipperfield, Judi Dench, Anthony Caro and Tony Cragg.

Walsh House, 2001 – 05 NSW, Australia © Anthony Browell, Courtesy of TOTO Publishing

2021 Praemium Imperiale Awards images/information received 140921

12 Sep 2023

Praemium Imperiale 2023

Architect Francis Kéré wins the 2023 Praemium Imperiale Awards Architecture Laureate, announced by The Japan Art Association and Lord Patten of Barnes, Advisor in UK:

Praemium Imperiale 2023 for Architecture

Previously on e-architect:

Praemium Imperiale Architecture Laureate Past Winners

13 Sep 2016

Paulo Mendes da Rocha wins Praemium Imperiale 2016 for Architecture

The Japan Art Association has today announced the recipients of the 2016 Praemium Imperiale Awards:

Praemium Imperiale 2016 for Architecture

Architect Dominique Perrault wins Praemium Imperiale 2015 for Architecture

Praemium Imperiale 2015 for Architecture

17 Sep 2013

David Chipperfield wins Praemium Imperiale 2015 for Architecture

Architectural Laureate of the Praemium Imperiale 2013

photo © Nick Knight

David Chipperfield is announced as the Architectural Laureate for the 2013 edition of the Japan Art Association’s Praemium Imperiale. The award will be presented by HIH Prince Hitachi, brother of Emperor Akihito, at a ceremony in Tokyo on 16 October 2013.

David Chipperfield Architect

12 Sep 2012

Henning Larsen wins Praemium Imperiale Architecture Laureate 2012

PRAEMIUM IMPERIALE AWARDS 2012 ANNOUNCED

Today, The Japan Art Association announced the names of this year’s Praemium Imperiale Laureates:

Painting: Cai Guo-Qiang

Sculpture: Cecco Bonanotte

Architecture: Henning Larsen

Music: Philip Glass

Theatre/Film: Yoko Morishita

The Praemium Imperiale is a global arts prize awarded annually by the Japan Art Association. Now in its 24th year, since its inauguration in 1989 it has become a mark of the highest international distinction for achievement in the arts. The awards honour individuals from all over the world who have made an outstanding contribution to the development of the arts and are made in five categories – Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Music and Theatre/film.

photo : Agnete Schlichtkrull

The awards will be presented by Prince Hitachi, Honorary Patron of the Japan Art Association, the younger brother of the Emperor of Japan, at a ceremony in Tokyo in October. Each Laureate will receive an honorarium of 15 million yen (c. £115,000), a diploma and a medal – making the Awards globally the most substantial.

The list of major artists selected this year includes Cai Guo-Quiang, the brilliantly innovative Chinese artist who created the memorable ‘Footprints in the Sky’ works for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics – so appropriate for this Olympic year. He is the first Chinese Praemium Imperiale Laureate.

Henning Larsen

image from architects

Henning Larsen, the great Scandinavian architect responsible for so many outstanding, light-filled buildings both in his native Scandinavia but also in the Middle East, is another first – the first Danish Laureate for Praemium Imperiale.

This year, the Music Category has been given to Philip Glass – one of the most influential composers of the modern period and well known to many for his collaborations with musicians as diverse as Ravi Shankar, David Bowie, Brian Eno and Leonard Cohen.

The Japanese ballet dancer, Yoko Morishita in the category of Theatre/Film and the Italian sculptor, Cecco Bonanotte in the category of Sculpture further emphasis the rich diversity of these awards.

Lord Patten of Barnes, UK’s International Advisor to the Praemium Imperiale Awards says, “ it is fitting that, in this Olympic year, one of the artists who contributed so much to the Beijing Olympics be honoured. But let’s not forget that Anish Kapoor and Zaha Hadid who have made a major impression on the London Olympics, are also members of the very exclusive club of past Praemium Imperiale Laureates (Anish Kapoor 2011 and Zaha Hadid 2009)”.

Praemium Imperiale Architecture Laureate Archive

Ricardo Legorreta wins Praemium Imperiale in 2011

photograph of Ricardo Legorreta from B&Q
Praemium Imperiale 2011

architect Ricardo Legorreta

Toyo Ito wins Praemium Imperiale Architecture Laureate for 2010

photograph © 2007 Deborah Bullen
Praemium Imperiale 2010

architect Toyo Ito

Zaha Hadid wins Praemium Imperiale Architecture Laureate for 2009

picture from architects
Praemium Imperiale 2009

architect Zaha Hadid

Location: Tokyo, Japan, Asia

Praemium Imperiale – Background Information

Praemium Imperiale

The Praemium Imperiale was established in 1988 to mark the centennial of the Japan Art Association and to honour the wish of the late Prince Takamatsu, its Honorary Patron for 58 years, “to contribute to enhancing and promoting the cultures and arts of the world”. As well as honouring five international artists each year, it also gives a grant to a Young Artists group, who nurture young talent.

Japan Art Association

The Japan Art Association is the oldest cultural foundation in Japan, established in 1887. It runs the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo, and organizes and holds art exhibitions. Prince Hitachi, younger brother of the Emperor, has been its Honorary Patron since 1987. The Association has presented five Praemium Imperiale Awards every year since 1989.