The medal of the Praemium Imperiale was presented to Arthur Miller, the 2001 laureate in the category of theatre/film. The presentation was conducted by Kiyohara Takehiko, a trustee of the Japan Art Association, in the presence of International Advisor William Luers at the Japan Society on September 3 in New York.
Mr. Miller is an American playwright well known for such works as Death of a Salesman. As he was unable to be present at the Awards Ceremony in 2001 because he had to attend to his sick wife, photographer Inge Morath, the medal was presented this year. Remembering his wife, who died in January 2002, Mr. Miller said, “She deeply understood Japanese culture and expected me to learn from Japanese tradition as well as she did.
He was also pleased that his works are performed in Japan, where culture and customs are different from the United States. Referring to Shakespeare’s Hamlet as an example, he stressed the potentiality of the arts to outlive cultural difference and time, saying that, though the political and social situation might change, literary works live through ages. Ornette Coleman, 2001 Praemium Imperiale laureate in music, was also present.