The 2020 Tang Prize Award Ceremony is scheduled to take place online at 2p.m. Taipei time (GMT+8) on Saturday, November 20, 2021. The Tang Prize Foundation will livestream the whole event, which features eight laureates receiving the awards and making their acceptance speeches. Viewers all over the world are cordially invited to celebrate with us the outstanding achievements and contributions of our 2020 laureates, and to share their happiness and sense of pride.
The original plan after the 2020 winners were announced in June last year was to have all the laureates come to Taiwan around the end of September to participate in the 2020 Tang Prize Week, where the awarding ceremony, banquet, laureates’ lectures, Masters’ Forums, and other relevant activities would take place. However, due to the fact that the whole world remained in the tight grip of COVID-19 throughout 2020, coupled with the complexity of different border control and quarantine measures that these eight laureates from seven countries, including America, Britain, Japan, Singapore, Bangladesh, Colombia and Lebanon, would have to deal with, the Tang Prize Foundation, out of consideration for the laureates’ safety and health, decided to cancel the awarding ceremony and many other events for the first time in its history.
Given that the past awards ceremonies were held on-site and only those with invitations were allowed to attend, the Tang Prize Foundation hopes that this year’s virtual ceremony will transcend geographical boundaries, bring people together, and attract the interest of netizens worldwide. In addition, two online games, “Guess where the Tang Prize laureates will be when they go online to accept the awards” and “No dress code—new ideas for what to wear for an award ceremony,” will be launched prior to the awarding ceremony. More information will be made available on the Tang Prize’s Facebook Page soon.
The 2020 Award Ceremony, held against the backdrop of a global pandemic, will have a special significance, as every laureate has helped ease this health crisis in their own way. We welcome everyone to go to the Tang Prize’s official YouTube channel or Facebook Page at 2p.m. (GMT+8), November 20, to watch the awarding ceremony. You will be touched by the laureates’ dedication to their work as well as by their contributions and vision, and become duly concerned about the sustainable future of our planet.
