Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2024

LOEWE is pleased to open submissions for the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2024, which will take place in Paris in spring next year. Entries to the seventh edition of the prize will be accepted until 25 October 2023.

The 2023 edition of the prize received over 2,700 total submissions from over 100 countries and regions across the globe; potential candidates for next year’s edition are invited to submit work at loewecraftprize.com.

The LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize was launched in 2016 to showcase excellence, artistic merit and newness in modern craftsmanship. It seeks to acknowledge and support international artists who demonstrate an exceptional ability to create objects of superior aesthetic value, with the winner receiving 50,000 euros and two special mentions receiving 10,000 euros.

Conceived by creative director Jonathan Anderson, the award aims to acknowledge the importance of craft in today’s culture. In celebrating the joy of making things with your hands and recognising working artists whose talent, vision and will to innovate set a standard for the future, the prize pays tribute to LOEWE’s own beginnings as a collective craft workshop in 1846.

Jonathan Anderson states: ‘Craft is always going to be modern. It is about creating objects that have a formula of their own and speak their own language, creating a dialogue that didn’t exist before. It is about newness as much as it is about tradition.’

An expert panel composed of artists, essayists, curators and designers will consider all submitted works in order to select a shortlist of up to 30 submissions. New additions to this year’s expert panel include glass artist and 2023 Craft Prize finalist Keeryong Choi and metal artist and 2023 Craft Prize finalist Kaori Juzu. The panel’s choice will be based on a number of key criteria: originality, clear artistic vision and merit, precise execution, material excellence, innovative value, and a distinct authorial mark.

The shortlisted works will then form the basis of an exhibition due to go on display in Paris, from which the prize jury will select the winning piece. This year, new jury members include President of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Sheila Loewe, who joins as the new Chairwoman, architect Minsuk Cho, and winner of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2023 Eriko Inazaki.

Inazaki was announced as this year’s winner on May 16 at the opening of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2023 exhibition at Isamu Noguchi’s Studio at The Noguchi Museum, New York, alongside the digital exhibition opening at craftprizeexhibition.loewe.com.

The winner of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2024 will be announced at the opening ceremony in Paris, in spring 2024.

Experts Panel

Andrew Bonacina, LOEWE Art Advisor and independent curator.
Antonia Boström, Director of Collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Hyeyoung Cho, Chairwoman at the Korea Association of Art and Design. Keeryong Choi, glass artist and finalist of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2023. Andile Dyalvane, ceramist and finalist of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2022. Sara Flynn, ceramicist and finalist of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2017. Kaori Juzu, metal artist and finalist of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2023. Wolfgang Lösche, Head of Exhibitions and Fairs at the Chamber of Skilled Trades, Munich.
Juha Marttila, LOEWE Leathergoods Design Director.
Mary Savig, Curator of Craft at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Renwick Gallery, Washington DC.
Anatxu Zabalbeascoa (Executive Secretary), architecture and design correspondent for El País.

Jury

Abraham Thomas, Curator of Modern Architecture, Design and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, Architecture and design correspondent for El País.
Deyan Sudjic, Essayist and Director Emeritus of the Design Museum, London. Eriko Inazaki, Ceramicist and winner of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2023. Jonathan Anderson, LOEWE Creative Director.
Magdalene Odundo, Ceramicist.
Minsuk Cho, Architect and Venice Gold Lion winner.
Naoto Fukasawa, Designer and Director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum, Tokyo. Olivier Gabet, Director of the Art Department at the Louvre Museum, Paris. Patricia Urquiola, Architect and industrial designer.
Sheila Loewe, (Chairwoman) President of the LOEWE FOUNDATION.
Wang Shu, Architect and Pritzker Prize winner.

About LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize

The LOEWE FOUNDATION launched the international annual LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize in 2016 to showcase and celebrate newness, excellence and artistic merit in modern craftsmanship. The LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize recognises artists who have made fundamentally important contributions to the development of contemporary craft, including ceramics, jewelry, textiles, woodwork, glass, metalwork, furniture, papercraft and lacquer. The Prize functions as a multigenerational snapshot of the utmost excellence in craft today.

The award, which was conceived by LOEWE creative director Jonathan Anderson, aims to acknowledge the importance of craft in today’s culture and recognise working artists whose talent, vision and will to innovate set a standard for the future.

The incentive for the prize was inspired by LOEWE’s beginnings as a collective craft workshop in 1846, reflecting fashion’s vital link to culture and the importance of advanced, specialised knowledge to the field. Art, craft and design remain fundamental cornerstones to the house’s present chapter.

Any professional artist aged over 18 can apply for the award, with the sole requirement that the submitted work combine an innovative application of its craft with an original artistic concept.

About the LOEWE FOUNDATION

The LOEWE FOUNDATION was established as a private cultural foundation in 1988 by Enrique Loewe, a fourth-generation member of LOEWE’s founding family. Today, under the direction of his daughter Sheila Loewe, the Foundation continues to promote creativity, organise educational programs and protect cultural heritage in the fields of craft, design, photography, poetry and dance. The Foundation was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts by the Spanish government in 2002.

More information:
web | www.loewe.com
blog | www.blogfundacionloewe.es Instagram | @loewefoundation

About The Room

The Room is a digital platform dedicated to showcasing works by the artists nominated for the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize, enabling them to share their work with a global audience and give visitors the opportunity to discover, research and collect art by some of the world’s most innovative craftspeople working today.

Find out more at theroom.loewe.com

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