Peter Doig and Marina Abramović were honored at the Praemium Imperiale Awards ceremony in Tokyo, hosted by the Japan Arts Association at the Meiji Kinenkan hall. Princess Hitachi presented the laureates with gold medals; other winners included Eduardo Souto de Moura (architecture), András Schiff (music), and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (theatre/film). Each received 15 million yen. Attendees included international advisors Hillary Rodham Clinton, Lord Patten, and Lamberto Dini, as well as past laureates Hiroshi Sugimoto and Lee Ufan. Clinton spoke about art's unifying power, while Dini warned of declining arts education worldwide.
The Praemium Imperiale is often called the "Nobel Prize for the Arts," making this ceremony a significant global recognition of visual artists alongside figures in architecture, music, and theatre. The event highlights the ongoing importance of cross-disciplinary artistic achievement and the role of art in fostering dialogue amid societal division. The warnings about shrinking arts education from a former Italian prime minister underscore a broader concern for the future of creative disciplines in school systems worldwide.