The Japan Art Association announced the five winners of the 10th Praemium Imperiale awards Thursday in the Prinzregententheater in Munich, Germany.
The 1998 recipients are Richard Attenborough of Britain in theater/film, Sofia Gubaidulina of Russia in music, Robert Rauschenberg of the United States in painting, Dani Karavan of Israel in sculpture and Alvaro Siza of Portugal in architecture.
The awards, which were established in 1988 at the behest of the late Prince Takamatsu, a brother of the late Emperor Showa, recognize outstanding artists who have contributed to the development of culture and art.
Attenborough, 74, is best known as the director of "Gandhi," the 1982 winner of eight Oscars. He has also starred in numerous stage plays and more than 60 films, most recently appearing in Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" and its sequel "The Lost World."
Gubaidulina, 66, is the first woman to win the Praemium award in music. Her works, which often experiment with folk and ritual instruments, have been performed widely.
Rauschenberg, 72, has created works of pop art that place paintings alongside objects such as stuffed goats and tires, to depict the interplay of different media.
Karavan, 67, is known for the Negev Monument, a village of concrete sculptures on a hill overlooking Beersheba, Israel.
Siza, 65, has built more than 140 buildings, low-cost dwellings and projects dedicated to contemporary form.
Each artist will receive 15 million yen and a medal at an awards ceremony at the Meiji Memorial Hall in Tokyo on Oct. 29.
The Japan Art Association also announced that the 5 million yen Praemium Imperiale Grant for Young Artists will be given to the Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Lodz.
The school, underfunded during the communist regime, is known for cradling creative artists such as Andrzej Wajda, director of "Ashes and Diamonds," and Roman Polanski, director of "Chinatown."