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Edmund de Waal has been selected to receive the Isamu Noguchi Award for his contribution as both a writer and artist. Established in 2014 and presented annually, the award perpetuates Noguchi’s legacy by acknowledging highly accomplished individuals who share his spirit of innovation, unbounded imagination, and uncompromising commitment to creativity. Honoring those whose work exhibits qualities of artistic excellence, the award also recognizes work that carries significant social consciousness and function. De Waal will receive the award during the annual benefit gala at the Noguchi Museum, New York, in September 2023.

On the occasion of his Artist Spotlight, Edmund de Waal has created a playlist of music he listens to in his studio. Ranging in genre from contemporary classical to rock, electronic, and African folk, the selection features composers and musicians such as Philip Glass, Talking Heads, LCD Soundsystem, and Michael Kiwanuka. The twenty-three tracks are synthy, expansive, rhythmically hypnotic, or just generally dreamy—sharing a meditative quality with de Waal’s visual artwork.

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In this video, Edmund de Waal introduces his new book, Letters to Camondo (2021). The book consists of a sequence of haunting imaginary letters from de Waal to Count Moïse de Camondo, the owner of a Parisian palace turned into a memorial for his son, who died in World War I. The Camondo family lived a few doors away from de Waal’s forebears, the Ephrussis. Both families were collectors and part of Belle Époque Parisian high society. Both were also targets of antisemitism. De Waal describes the particular resonance of this home, now the Musée Nissim de Camondo, as a “house for a lost family” and discusses his need to write this story.

In November 2021, 100,000 copies of Der Hase mit den Bernsteinaugen, the German edition of Edmund de Waal’s family memoir The Hare with Amber Eyes (2010), will be given away across Vienna as part of Eine STADT. Ein BUCH (One City. One Book). The initiative, where one book is selected, printed, and distributed for free, began in 2002 and takes place in Vienna every year.

Edmund de Waal was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in Queen Elizabeth II’s 2021 birthday honors list for his service to the arts as a potter and a writer. The title CBE is bestowed to individuals who have made distinct and innovative contributions to the United Kingdom.

Edmund de Waal will receive the Max and Trude Berger Award from the Jewish Museum Vienna on November 6, 2018. De Waal generously supported the museum by donating the Ephrussi family archive and netsuke collection to the institution earlier this year.