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Japan Art Association Names 2011 Praemium Imperiale Laureates

The Japan Art Association also named The Royal Court Young Writers Programme and Southbank Sinfonia as the co-recipients of its annual Grant for Young Artists award. Each group will receive an award of 2.5 million yen (approximately $30,000) for encouraging the involvement of young people in the arts.

His Imperial Highness Prince Hitachi, honorary patron of the Japan Art Association, and Princess Hitachi traveled to London for the announcement - their first trip outside Japan since the devastating tsunami in March. They and the three British Laureates were received by Queen Elizabeth II at a reception in Buckingham Palace.

Praemium Imperiale candidates are nominated by a distinguished panel of International Advisors and selected by the Japan Art Association. William H. Luers, the American Advisor, said, "Over the past 23 years the Praemium Imperiale awards have grown to become a powerful symbol of the importance of the arts in the global community. We are honored to recognize this year's distinguished group of Laureates for their outstanding achievements and life-long pursuit of excellence."

Other International Advisors include Lamberto Dini (Italy), François Pinault (France), Christopher Patten (UK), Klaus-Dieter Lehmann (Germany) and Yasuhiro Nakasone (Japan). In addition to David Rockefeller, Jr., other Honorary Advisors are Jacques Chirac, David Rockefeller, Helmut Schmidt, and Richard von Weizsäcker.

The Praemium Imperiale was created in 1988 to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the Japan Art Association and to honor the late Prince Takamatsu, who served as the association's honorary patron for 58 years.

For more information on the Praemium Imperiale, including biographies of current and past winners, visit www.praemiumimperiale.org/.

Linden Alschuler & Kaplan PR
Shannon Lynch, 212-575-4545
slynch@lakpr.com