The 2021 edition of the prize received almost 3,000 total submissions from 107 countries across the globe; potential candidates for next year’s edition are invited to submit work at loewecraftprize.com
The winner of the main prize of 50000 euros: Fanglu Lin, China, SHE, 2016. Cotton and wood.
Special mention: David Corvalán, Chile, Desértico II, 2019. Copper wire and epoxy resin.
Special mention: Takayuki Sakiyama, Japan, Chōtō: Listening to the Waves, 2019.
Stoneware.
The Loewe Foundation Craft Prize was launched in 2016 to showcase and celebrate excellence, artistic merit and originality in modern craftsmanship. It seeks to acknowledge and support international artisans who demonstrate an exceptional ability to create objects of superior aesthetic value, with the winner receiving 50,000 Euros. The award, which was conceived by Loewe’s creative director Jonathan Anderson, aims to acknowledge the importance of craft in today’s culture and recognise working artisans whose talent, vision and will to innovate set a standard for the future. The incentive for the prize goes back to Loewe’s 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, artisans, essayists, curators and designers will consider all submitted works in order to select a shortlist of up to 30 submissions. New additions to the expert panel this year include, Peter Bauhuis (metal artist and finalist of the Craft Prize 2021), Jiyong Lee (glass artist and finalist of the Craft Prize 2021), Juha Marttila (Loewe Leather Goods Design Director), Kavita Parmar (textile designer) and Zizipho Poswa (ceramicist). 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 Seoul, South Korea from which the Prize’s Jury will select the winning piece. New members of the Jury for 2022 include Magdalene Odundo (world-renown Kenyanborn British ceramicist), Abraham Thomas (Curator of Modern Architecture, Design, and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and Fanglu Lin (textile artist and winner of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2021).
The winner of this year’s prize, Fanglu Lin, was announced on 25 May 2021 to coincide with the opening of the digital exhibition of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2021 on https://craftprize2021.loewe.com. The exhibition is open online until 25 October 2021.
The winner of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2022 will be announced in Seoul in spring 2022.
Experts Panel
Paula Aza, Loewe Director of Architecture and Visual Merchandising.
Peter Bauhuis, metal artist and finalist of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2021.
Antonia Boström, Director of Collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Hyeyoung Cho, Secretary General at the Korea Craft and Design Foundation.
Sara Flynn, ceramicist and finalist of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2017.
Jiyong Lee, glass artist and finalist of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2021.
Juha Marttila, Loewe Leather Goods Design Director.
Kavita Parmar, textile designer.
Zizipho Poswa, ceramicist.
Ramón Puig Cuyàs, jewellery artist.
Anatxu Zabalbeascoa (Executive Secretary), architecture and design correspondent
Jury 2022
Jonathan Anderson, Loewe Creative Director.
Naoto Fukasawa, designer and Director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum, Tokyo.
Olivier Gabet, Director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
Fanglu Lin, textile artist and Winner of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2021.
Hong-Nam Kim, President of the National Trust of Korea.
Enrique Loewe, Loewe Foundation Honorary President.
Magdalene Odundo, ceramicist.
Wang Shu, architect and Pritzker Prize winner.
Deyan Sudjic, essayist and Director Emeritus of the Design Museum, London.
Benedetta Tagliabue, architect and RIBA Stirling Prize winner.
Abraham Thomas, Curator of Modern Architecture, Design, and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Patricia Urquiola, architect and industrial designer.
Anatxu Zabalbeascoa (Chairwoman), architecture and design correspondent for El País.
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 poetry, dance, photography, design, art and craft. The Foundation was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts by the Spanish government in 2002. More information:
www.loewecraftprize.com or www.loewe.com
blog: www.blogfundacionloewe.es
Instagram: @loewefoundation
Loewe & Culture
With the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize the house reasserts its longstanding commitment to creativity in all forms and disciplines. Culture is a pillar of the brand. Reflecting fashion’s vital link to contemporary life, a strong emphasis on art, design and craftsmanship has been a cornerstone of Jonathan Anderson’s rebuilding of the house. In the past years, Loewe has initiated an important series of collaborations with artists and artisans who reinterpret and expand the brand’s values. Apart from showcasing the many facets of Loewe, these cultural projects reflect the transfer of knowledge and the cooperative spirit that have been characteristic of Loewe since the day it was founded.