Gu Jaha wins International Ibsen Award as youngest recipient

Performing arts artist Gu Jaha has become the first Asian and the youngest recipient in history to win the International Ibsen Award, often referred to as the ‘Nobel Prize of Theatre’. The award ceremony took place on the 26th at the Oslo National Theatre in Norway.

Established in 2007 to honor playwright Henrik Ibsen, the award evaluates the overall body of work of an artist or theater company rather than a single production. The prize includes 2.5 million NOK (approximately 358 million KRW). Previous winners such as Jon Fosse and Peter Handke went on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Gu, who has been active in Europe since 2011 and is currently a collaborator at the Belgian institution CAMPO, is noted for breaking traditional theatrical forms by integrating music, video, text, and robotic objects. In his acceptance speech, Gu expressed a desire to continue questioning the nature of theater, stating, “I might be a person who makes theater because I continue to doubt theater.”