LOEWE Craft Prize 2018 Finalists from Design Museum on Vimeo.

As part of the programme for London Craft Week, LOEWE FOUNDATION is pleased to present the LOEWE Craft Prize 2018 Exhibition at the Design Museum, from 4 May – 17 June 2018.

LOEWE Foundation will present an exhibition at the Design Museum, London, of the best of the world’s contemporary craft, comprising 30 works shortlisted for the 2018 edition of the LOEWE Craft Prize.

On display from 4 May – 17 June 2018, the exhibition will feature works by finalists from across the globe, with 18 different countries represented. Spanning ceramics, jewellery, textiles, woodwork, glass, metalwork, furniture, papercraft and lacquer, the finalists’ entries function as a multigenerational snapshot of the utmost excellence in craft today. Their legacy in contributing to the development of contemporary craft will be documented in a specially produced catalogue to accompany the exhibition, fully illustrating each of the finalists’ pieces.

The winner of the LOEWE Craft Prize 2018 will be announced on 3 May 2018. A jury composed of 10 leading figures from the world of design, architecture, journalism, criticism and museum curatorship, including Ernst Gamperl, winner of the 2017 edition, will make the selection for who will receive the €50,000 cash prize.

The annual prize was launched by the LOEWE FOUNDATION in 2016 to showcase and celebrate excellence, artistic merit and newness in modern craftsmanship. This year, 30 finalists were chosen by a panel of experts from close to 1,900 submissions.

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 artisans whose talent, vision and will to innovate will 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 says: ‘Craft is the essence of LOEWE. As a house, we are about craft in the purest sense of the word. That is where our modernity lies, and it will always be relevant.’

Regarding the finalists selection process, done by a panel of 11 experts, Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, the Executive Secretary of the LOEWE Craft Prize Experts Panel, stated: ‘This year the judging was harder than prior years, with the standard of applicants impressively high across every category. Our chosen works reflect an almost alchemical manipulation of each medium’s possibilities and reward those who have mastered traditional skills in order to transform them for the contemporary age.’

On 11 May 2018, Jonathan Anderson and Deyan Sudjic will discuss ‘The New Ethics of Craft’ at the Design Museum as part of ‘Craft Conversations’, a series of talks organised by LOEWE Foundation for London Craft Week. Spotlighting various projects in this year’s LOEWE Craft Prize, the pair will explore how today’s changing world is impacting craft production and making.

The selected finalists for the LOEWE Craft Prize 2018 are (in alphabetical order, with nationality):
Paul Adie (United Kingdom)
Gunilla Maria Åkesson (Sweden)
ARKO (Japan)
Hae Cho Chung (Republic of Korea) Steffen Dam (Denmark)
Sam Tho DUONG (Germany)
Sara Gackowska (Poland)
Ann van Hoey (Belgium)
Joe Hogan (Ireland)
Marie Janssen (Austria)
Joonyong Kim (Republic of Korea) Christopher Kurtz (United States)
Takuro Kuwata (Japan)
Jennifer Lee (United Kingdom)
Deirdre McLoughlin (Ireland)
Richard McVetis (United Kingdom)
Chen Min (China)
Simone Pheulpin (France)
Irina Razumovskaya (Russian Federation) Aneta Regel (United Kingdom)
Ryuhei Sako (Japan)
Rita Soto (Chile)
Laurenz Stockner (Italy)
Wycliffe Stutchbury (United Kingdom) Mercedes Vicente (Spain)
Julian Watts (United States)
Takeshi Yasuda (United Kingdom)
Chang Yeonsoon (Republic of Korea) Ashley YK Yeo (Singapore)
Shohei Yokoyama (Japan)