Teejan Bai to receive Fukuoka Prize 2018

New Delhi: Pandavani folk singer Teejan Bai has been chosen as a recipient of this year's Fukuoka Prize.

She has been announced the winner of the Arts and Culture Prize.

The Fukuoka Prize, which has been awarded yearly since 1990 in Fukuoka, Japan, is conferred on outstanding individuals or groups that preserve and create the unique and diverse cultures of Asia.

The prize aims to foster and increase awareness of the value of Asian cultures, and to institute a broad framework for exchange and mutual learning among the people of Asia.

This year marks the 29th anniversary of the inception of the Fukuoka Prize.

The following three people have been selected as this year's Prize laureates.

Grand Prize: JIA Zhangke (China/Film)

Academic Prize: Suehiro Akira (Japan/Economics, Area Studies (Thailand))

Arts and Culture Prize: Dr. Teejan Bai (India/Music)

In September this year, the laureates will be invited to Fukuoka for official events, including the award ceremony and public lectures.

Over the last 28 years, the Prize has been awarded to 109 leading figures in their respective fields.

Prize laureates include 10 distinguished individuals from India, namely, Ravi Shankar (sitar player), Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam (traditional dancer), Romila Thapar (historian), Amjad Ali Khan (sarod maestro), Ashis Nandy (social and cultural critic), Partha Chatterjee (political scientist), Vandana Shiva (environmental philosopher and activist), Nalini Malani (artist), Dr. Ramachandra Guha (historian and sociologist) and A.R. Rahman (Composer, Song writer, Singer).