'Nobel Prize of the Arts' Praemium Imperiale for Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, born in Mechelen in 1960, was awarded the Praemium Imperiale for her rich career in the world of dance. It is the Japan Art Association that presents the prize annually. The prize, consisting of a gold medal, a diploma and € 92,000, was presented by Her Imperial Highness Princess Hitachi in the Horaiza Hall of the Meiji Kinenkan, in the presence of various international advisors to the foundation, including Lamberto Dini, former Prime Minister of Italy, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Rosas, the dance ensemble founded by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, shares the following:

"… De Keersmaeker will be the 2nd Belgian to receive the prize since the establishment of the Praemium in 1988, the first Belgian was Pierre Alechinsky in 2018.

Moreover, she is the first Belgian artist ever to receive the award in the category "performing arts and film". She thus follows in the footsteps of renowned choreographers and dancers who were previously honored in this category, such as Mikhail Baryshnikov (2017), choreographer Merce Cunningham (2005), Pina Bausch (1999) and Maurice Béjart (1993), under whom she studied at the Brussels dance school Mudra."

In 1988, the Japan Art Association celebrated its 100th anniversary, and on that occasion the Praemium Imperiale was established. This prize honors the memory of Prince Takamatsu, who was patron of the association for 58 years. The prize, also called the Nobel Prize for the Arts, recognizes artists with a profound international impact within their discipline. The 2025 laureates join an impressive list of more than 180 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 Rostropovitch and Ravi Shankar. The 2025 laureates in the five categories

1. Painting: Peter Doig (United Kingdom)
2. Sculpture: Marina Abramović (Serbia)
3. Architecture: Eduardo Souto de Moura (Portugal)
4. Music: András Schiff (United Kingdom / born in Hungary)
5. Theater/Film: Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (Belgium)