Donation of Praemium Imperiale Award Proceeds to the Asian Cultural Council and the Construction of SMoCA

Apr 2013

Cai Guo-Qiang speaking at the press conference dinner as the recipient of the Praemium Imperiale Award, 2012. Photo by Yasutaka Kojima, courtesy The Japan Art Association

Cai Guo-Qiang received the Praemium Imperiale in 2012, a prestigious honor presented by Japan’s Imperial Household in recognition of outstanding contributions to global art and culture. That year’s fellow recipients included Philip Glass, Henning Larsen, Yoko Morishita, and Cecco Bonanotte.

Cai donated half of his monetary award to the Asian Cultural Council (ACC), supporting its Japan-United States Arts Program endowment, and dedicated the other half to the construction of the Snake Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) in Japan’s Iwaki region, conceived in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.