Ang Lee (李安) yesterday became the first Taiwanese director to be honored with a Praemium Imperiale award and is to attend the awards ceremony in late November, the event organizers said.
The Praemium Imperiale, inaugurated in 1988, is an international art prize. Since 1989, the Japanese imperial family has presented the awards on behalf of the Japan Art Association.
A panel of internationally renowned individuals, including former Italian prime minister Lamberto Dini, University of Oxford chancellor Chris Patten, Goethe-Institut president Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, made the nominations, which the association reviewed and picked final candidates.
Photo: Hsu Shih-yin, Taipei Times
In addition to Lee, who won the prize in the film sector, other winners include Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, French installation artist Sophie Calle, Colombian visual artist and sculptor Doris Salcedo, and Portuguese pianist Maria Joao Pires.
Ban was nominated for his contributions to the creativity and innovativeness of architecture by using paper as material to build shelters and temporary residences for natural disaster victims
Lee enjoys significant status in Japan and has been introduced by the Japan Broadcasting Corp (NHK) as the director who won an Oscar for best director twice — for Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi.
Prince Hitachi, the association’s honorary patron, is to preside over the awards ceremony, which is to be held in Tokyo on Nov. 19.
The Japanese emperor and queen attend the event every year in principle; if they cannot attend in person, they usually arrange a time to meet the awardees.
Representative to Japan Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) has also been invited by the association to attend the ceremony.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu, front, grabs the pennant in a dragon boat race hosted by Qu Yuan Temple in the Shuanghsi River in Taipei’s Beitou District yesterday.
RSS