(Paris) Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei and German filmmaker Wim Wenders are among the winners of the 33e Praemium Imperiale, considered the “Nobel of the Arts” and which also rewards the Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman this year.
Posted at 12:39 p.m.
The winners of this prestigious prize, which has been awarded to 164 artists since its creation, including Jean-Luc Godard, who died on Tuesday, Peter Brook and David Hockney, was announced on Thursday.
It was created in 1988 by the Japan Art Association and allows each winner to receive the sum of 15 million yen (about 105,000 euros). It is traditionally awarded in October at a ceremony in Tokyo attended by Prince Hitachi, uncle of Emperor Naruhito of Japan.
Ai Weiwei, a multidisciplinary artist ubiquitous on the planet and known for his political artistic performances questioning the established order, was imprisoned in his country of origin in 2011 for his anti-authoritarian positions. He returned there in the mid-1990s after living in the United States for a dozen years. He was awarded in the “sculpture” category.
The German director Wim Wenders, distinguished in the cinema category, is notably the author of the feature film “The Wings of Desire” and one of the pioneers of the new German cinema of the 70s.
Also awarded were the Italian painter Giulio Paolini, the Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman and the Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa.
The Encouragement Prize for Young Artists was awarded to the Kronberg Academy Foundation, a German-based cultural institution that provides advanced training for exceptionally gifted young musicians.