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Integral to the revered codes of Spanish fashion house Loewe is the exploration and manipulation of materiality, a feat ever-present in the collections presented season after season by its creative director Jonathan Anderson. The ingenuity of the British designer lies in his meticulous research of craft itself, a curiosity that is shared by the Loewe Foundation under the helm of Sheila Loewe. Founded in 1988 by her father Enrique Loewe Lynch, the foundation seeks to advance creativity through educational programmes and the protection of cultural heritage across different disciplines, including craft.

A hallmark of the organisation’s cultural endeavours is the annual Loewe Craft Prize, which acknowledges the craftsmanship and aesthetic originality of artisans who create work within the realm of applied arts. Both traditional and innovative techniques are celebrated by the award, with participants utilising materials from ceramic stoneware clay to glass-silicon hybrids. The winner of the 2022 Loewe Craft Prize, Korean artisan Dahye Jeong, revived a 500-year old millinery technique to sculpt a basket from horsehair.

Now on its sixth edition, 30 finalists have been selected for the 2023 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize by an ‘Experts Panel’ consisting of LOEWE creative director Jonathan Anderson, Japan Folk Crafts Museum Tokyo director Naoto Fukasawa, Louvre Museum art department director Olivier Gabet, Loewe Craft Prize 2022 winner Dahye Jeong, National Museum of Korea former director Hongnam Kim, Loewe Foundation Honorary President Enrique Loewe, ceramist Magdalene Odundo, Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu, Design Museum London director Deyan Sudjic, RIBA Stirling Prize winner Benedetta Tagliabue, Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Abraham Thomas, industrial designer Patricia Urquiola, El País architecture correspondent Anatxu Zabalbeascoa (chairwoman).

Out of 2700 submissions, the 30 shortlisted works range across mediums including ceramics, woodwork, textiles, furniture, paper, basketry, glass, metal, jeweler lacquer, leather and bookbinding. The artisans’ skillful experimentation of unexpected form and material, complete with trompe-l’oeil techniques and the distortion of light, incite playful and surprising results. All works will feature in an exhibition at the Noguchi Museum in New York running from May 17th to June 18th 2023, with the winner announced on May 16th, 2023.

Ai Shikanji (Japan)
Aranda\Lasch & Terrol Dew Johnson (United States)
Claire Lindner (France)
Dominique Zinkpè (Benin)
Dong Han (People’s Republic of China)
Eriko Inazaki (Japan)
Giorgi Danibegashvili (Georgia)
Healim Shin (Republic of Korea)
Inchin Lee (Republic of Korea)
Jaiik Lee (Republic of Korea)

Jana Visser (South Africa)
Johannes Kuhnen (Australia)
Kaori Juzu (Denmark)
Keeryong Choi (United Kingdom)
Kenji Honma (Japan)
Kristin McKirdy (France)
Kyouhong Lee (Republic of Korea)
Lene Bødker (Denmark)
Liam Lee (United States)
Luz Moreno Pinart (Spain)

Mabel Irene Pena (Argentina)
Maina Devi (India)
Maki Imoto (Japan)
Moe Watanabe (Japan)
Nathalie Doyen (Belgium)
Prue Venables (Australia)
Shinji Nakaba (Japan)
Tanya Aguiñiga (United States)
Wanbing Huang (People’s Republic of China)
Woosun Cheon (Republic of Korea)