The Japan Art Association proudly announces the recipients of the 21st PRAEMIUM IMPERIALE as follows: Hiroshi Sugimoto (Japan) Painting Richard Long (UK) Sculpture Zaha Hadid (UK, born in Iraq) Architecture Alfred Brendel (Austria) Music Tom Stoppard (UK, born in Czechoslovakia) Theatre/Film The artists are recognized and awarded for their achievements, for the impact they have had internationally on the arts, and for their role in enriching the global community. The five recipients each receive 15 million yen (ca. $158,000), and a diploma and medal presented by honorary patron of the Japan Art Association Prince Hitachi in an awards ceremony in Tokyo. The awards ceremony will be held in Tokyo on October 22, 2009. The Praemium Imperiale is the world's largest and most prestigious arts prize in the five disciplines of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Music and Theatre/film. Now in its 21st year, the Praemium Imperiale has grown to become a powerful voice for the importance of the arts in today’s world. It gives international recognition to the arts – much in the same way as the Nobel Prizes do in the Sciences. The 2009 laureates join a roster of 104 artists, including Ingmar Bergman, Leonard Bernstein, Peter Brook, Anthony Caro, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, Jean-Luc Godard, David Hockney, Willem de Kooning, Akira Kurosawa, Renzo Piano, Robert Rauschenberg, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Ravi Shankar. International Advisors to the Japan Art Association chair nomination committees and propose candidates for the annual awards. Japan Art Association selection committees make final selections. International Advisors include several prominent statesmen and business leaders: Lamberto Dini, Otto Graf Lambsdorff, William H. Luers, François Pinault and Yasuhiro Nakasone. Honorary Advisors are Jacques Chirac, David Rockefeller, David Rockefeller, Jr., Helmut Schmidt and Richard von Weizsäcker. ANNOUNCEMENT AROUND THE WORLD International Advisors organized embargoed press announcements at each city. On September 24, Otto Graf Lambsdorff presided over an announcement press conference at the Japanese Ambassador’s official residence in Berlin, in the presence of Prince Hitachi, honorary patron of the Japan Art Association, and Princess Hitachi. François Pinault has been International Advisor and President of the French Committee since October 2008.