Praemium Imperiale winners 2019
German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is one of the five laureates of the prestigious Japanese award, along with William Kentridge, Mona Hatoum, Tamasaburo Bando, and Tod Williams and Billie Tsien.
Anne-Sophie Mutter: From wunderkind to world star
Anne-Sophie Mutter is portrayed here in 1980, at the age of 17. At the time, she was already seen as one of the best violinists in the world. She was only six years old when she won her first music competition. Conductor Herbert von Karajan heard her play at the age of 13, and he took the musical phenomenon under his wing. She is the 2019 Praemium Imperiale winner in the field of music.
William Kentridge: Loudspeaker against injustice
Artist, filmmaker and director William Kentridge's works often deal with the remains of apartheid in South Africa, as well as colonialism, flight and expulsion. Born in 1955, the South African grew up as a privileged white man amid segregation and violence; he now denounces the world's injustices through his poetic works. He is the 2019 Praemium Imperiale winner in the painting category.
Mona Hatoum: Political sculpture
Mona Hatoum defines herself as a Palestinian-British artist. Lebanon is simply the country where she was born, and nothing more. Hatoum lives mainly in London, as well as in Berlin. Her art is political without being partisan, focusing on the human body and how it expresses the consequences of institutional violence. Her work in sculpture is now recognized by the Praemium Imperiale.
Tamasaburo Bando: Celebrated kabuki artist
Tamasaburo Bando (left) is a leading kabuki actor in Japan, specialized in portrayals of female roles, an art known as "onnagata." The now 69-year-old actor is famous far beyond the borders of Japan — most particularly in China, as many of his productions have been staged at the Peking Opera. He is recognized with the Praemium Imperiale in the field of theater/film.
Tod Williams and Billie Tsien: Master builders of the world
The husband-and-wife duo of architects had already received the National Medal of Arts from President Obama in 2014. Now their work, which focuses mostly on institutions such as museums, schools and nonprofits, is also recognized by the prestigious Praemium Imperiale. Their designs are conceived to reflect timelessness and beauty, aspiration and meaning.