Caroline Kennedy Named U.S. International Advisor To Praemium Imperiale Arts Award

The Japan Art Association has appointed Caroline Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, as International Advisor to Praemium Imperiale. Starting in November 2018, she will preside over the U.S. Nomination Committee, recommending candidates for the Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award. Ms. Kennedy will succeed, Ambassador William Luers, former President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who served in this role for 18 years and will become an Honorary Advisor.

The leadership transition was announced at the 30th anniversary press conference of the Praemium Imperiale in Tokyo by Hisashi Hieda, Chairman of the Japan Art Association who said, "We are extremely grateful to Ambassador Luers for his exceptional stewardship of the U.S. Committee, and we are excited to welcome Ambassador Kennedy to this distinguished group of advisors. Her global perspective, sensibility towards the arts, grace, and humanity will help us elevate the Praemium Imperiale even further."

Ms. Kennedy will be the fourth U.S. International advisor, following the founding advisor, David Rockefeller Sr., his son, David Rockefeller Jr., and Ambassador Luers.

Ms. Kennedy said, "It is with honor and great pleasure that I join the members of International advisors to the Praemium Imperiale. I look forward to further recognizing the world's vast diversity of artistic excellence through this prestigious award."

The prestigious Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award is presented annually by the Japan Art Association and recognizes lifetime achievement in art categories not covered by the Nobel Prizes. Now in its 30th year, the Praemium Imperiale is the world's most prestigious international prize in the fields of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Music, and Theatre/Film. It has become a powerful voice for the importance of culture in today's world. The artists are recognized and awarded for their achievements, for the international impact they had on their field, and for their role in enriching the global community. The five recipients each receive 15 million yen (c.$136,000), a testimonial letter, and a medal presented by Prince Hitachi who serves as the honorary patron of the Japan Art Association.

Ms. Kennedy served as the first female U.S. Ambassador to Japan from November 2013 to January 2017. As Ambassador, Kennedy supported economic empowerment of women and worked to increase student exchange between the United States and Japan. She strengthened cultural ties between countries through the International Poetry Exchange Project (IPEP), a program she co-founded that brings together high school students from New York City, Japan, and South Korea with the goal of promoting cross-cultural dialogue through the exchange of poetry.

Ms. Kennedy is the author/editor of eleven books on such subjects as law, civics, and poetry. From 2002 to 2013, she served as Vice Chairwoman of The Fund for Public Schools in New York City, helping to create the first K-12 arts curriculum funded by the private sector. She also served on the Board of Trustees of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Ms. Kennedy is currently the Honorary President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, a Director of the United States-Japan Foundation and a Trustee of the Asia Society. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from Harvard University and a JD from Columbia Law School.

The Praemium Imperiale was created in 1988 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Japan Art Association and to honor the late Prince Takamatsu, who was the Association's honorary patron for almost six decades. The Association chooses the winners based on the recommendations of the individual International Advisors in England, France, Italy, Germany, Japan and the United States. Each advisor is guided by the recommendations of a nominating committee comprising cultural leaders from his home country. The International Advisors are leading figures with a deep interest or involvement in the arts. In addition to Ms. Kennedy, the five other International Advisors include Mr. Lamberto Dini (former Italian Prime Minister); Lord Patten of Barnes (Christopher Patten, Chancellor of the University of Oxford); Prof. Klaus-Dieter Lehmann (President of the Goethe-Institut); Mr. Jean-Pierre Raffarin (former French Prime Minster) and Mr. Yasuhiro Nakasone (former Japanese Prime Minister).

Mr. Nakasone, former Japanese Prime Minister, who is 100 years old, will resign as International Advisor at the end of this year and become an Honorary Advisor. He was the chairman of the Japan Art Association at the inception of the Praemium Imperiale and has served as International Advisor since 1994. A successor to Mr. Nakasone has yet to be announced.

Praemium Imperiale Laureates include Martha Argerich, Ingmar Bergman, Leonard Bernstein, Peter Brook, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Anthony Caro, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Judi Dench, Catherine Deneuve, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Norman Foster, Athol Fugard, Frank Gehry, Philip Glass, Zaha Hadid, Jean-Luc Godard, David Hockney, Willem De Kooning, Akira Kurosawa, Riccardo Muti, Yossou N'Dour, Shirin Neshat, Arvo Pärt, Renzo Piano, Maya Plisetskaya, Robert Rauschenberg, Mstislav Rostropovich, Martin Scorsese, Ravi Shankar, Cindy Sherman, and Ellen Stewart. A complete list of winners can be found here.

In addition to the Praemium Imperiale award in five categories, the Japan Art Association gives an annual grant of 5 million yen to a group or institution that encourages the involvement of young people in the arts. The Grant for Young Artists was inaugurated in 1997 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Praemium Imperiale.

The Japan Art Association was created in 1879, on the advice of the Meiji Emperor, to encourage Japanese artists and to forge relations with other countries through arts. The organization and its Ueno Royal Museum have played an active role in Japan's cultural life, presenting exhibitions of traditional arts and art from abroad. In 1988, on its 100th anniversary, the Association created the Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award in honor of the late Prince Takamatsu, who had served as honorary patron for 58 years.