The Loewe Foundation Craft Prize was launched in 2016 to showcase and celebrate excellence, artistic merit and newness in modern craft. It seeks to acknowledge and support international artists who demonstrate an exceptional ability to create objects of superior aesthetic value. Potential candidates are invited to submit work at loewecraftprize.com.
Anyone over 18 years of age, working in a craft-based profession is welcome to apply. The winner will receive 50,000 euros and the two special mentions will each receive 5,000 euros. The award aims to acknowledge the importance of craft in today’s culture and to recognize working artists whose talent, vision and will to innovate set a standard for the future. The Prize was created as a tribute to Loewe’s beginnings as a collective craft workshop in 1846.
Kunimasa Aoki, Japan, won the Loewe Craft Prize 2025 and 50,000 euros with Realm of Living Things 19 from 2024. Terracotta, 40 x 40 x 87 cm. Technical mastery, craftsmanship, innovation, and artistic vision were the criteria of the jury.
Sheila Loewe, President of the Loewe Foundation, states: “Year on year, it gives me such pleasure to see the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize provide a platform for extraordinary talent. Through the Prize, we honour artists who dare to innovate while preserving a deep connection and reverence to their material and their culture. Craft embodies the values we want to carry forward for the next generation: care, dedication and imagination. These are the gestures that shape our future.”
The 2025 edition of the Prize received over 4,600 submissions from 133 countries and regions across the globe. A detailed article with commentary on the significance of the award for the unity of art and craftsmanship in the current autumn issue 61 of Art Aurea.
The 30 works by the finalists were on display at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid from May 30 to June 29, 2025. Radiance Amidst Uncertainty, 2020, Akari Aso, Japan. Bamboo, 65 x 45 x 90 cm (left). Eternity, 2024, Fang Liang, China. Lacquer, linen, ash, ø 80 cm, H 25 cm (center). StopStone/Tomeishi, 2024, Agnes Husz, Hungary. Stoneware, 50 x 50 x 60 cm (right).
The Expert Panel 2026
An expert panel composed of artists, essayists and curators will consider all submitted works to select a shortlist of up to 30 submissions for the 2026 Prize. New additions to the expert panel include Scott Chaseling, glass artist; Nifemi Marcus-Bello, artist and designer; and Didi NG Wing Yin, wood artist, all of whom are finalists of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2025. Further experts 2026 are Antonia Boström, former Director of Collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum,London. Hyeyoung Cho, Chairwoman at the Korea Association of Art and Design. Michelle Millar Fisher, Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Sara Flynn, ceramicist and Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2017 finalist. Satoko Fujiwara, Loewe VP Leather Goods Merchandising & Buying Strategy. Amy Greenspon, Loewe Art Advisor and independent curator. Wolfgang Lösche, former Head of Exhibition and Fairs at the Chamber of SkilledTrades, Munich. Ibrahim Mahama, mixed media artist. Anatxu Zabalbeascoa (Executive Secretary), Architecture and Design Correspondent for El País.
The Jury 2026
The newest members of the 2026 Jury are Kunimasa Aoki, winner of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2025, and Jack McCollough and Lázaro Hernández, new Creative Directors of Loewe. Further members are Minsuk Cho, architect and winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2014. Frida Escobedo, essayist and architect. Naoto Fukasawa, designer and Director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum, Tokyo. Olivier Gabet, Director of the Department of Decorative Arts, Louvre Museum, Paris. Sheila Loewe (Chairwoman), President of the Loewe Foundation, Magdalene Odundo, ceramicist. Wang Shu, architect and Pritzker Prize winner. Deyan Sudjic, essayist and Director Emeritus of the Design Museum, London. 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, Architecture and Design Correspondent for El País.
Anyone over 18 years of age working in a craft-based profession is welcome to apply.
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, art, design, photography, poetry and dance. The Foundation was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts by the Spanish government in 2002.
Exhibition space at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum. Radiance Amidst Uncertainty, 2020, by Akari Aso, Japan (left). Sobejos XII by Jessica Costa, Brazil. Wool, resin, wood, 130 x 220 x 50 cm, 2024. This tactile work bridges the gap between sculpture and textiles (center). Hollow Stripe Chain by Caroline Broadhead (right).