BKV Prize 2021 Winners

The Bavarian Crafts Council is dedicated to the promotion of contemporary crafts. A key aspect of its work is supporting young artisans. This prize is therefore aimed at young artisans under 35 years of age who are about to embark on their professional career. The prize is open for entries from all over the world and from all areas of applied arts. Prizes go to works that show excellent design based on fine craftsmanship. The competition is international and aimed specifically at young artisans in all areas of applied arts who are at the beginning of their careers.

Due to the variety and excellent quality of the works submitted, it was a difficult task for the selection committee to come to a final decision. We thank the jury for their conscientious work and commitment:

• David Bielander, Jeweler and BKV Member
• Françoise Heitsch, Gallery Owner
• Elsa Nietmann, Sculptress
• Prof. Barbara Schmidt, Ceramist and Professor of Design at Weissensee Academy of Art, Berlin
• Antonia Voit, Collection Curator of Applied Arts at the Münchner Stadtmuseum

1st Prize: Jonas Noël Niedermann, was born in 1990, St. Gallen/Switzerland, currently lives in Næstved/Denmark, Glass.
In his work »Modular Shapes«, Jonas Noël Niedermann has successfully tamed glass to extract maximum aesthetic appeal. These fine glass objects resemble an abstraction of the human body. The vessels’ gentle colorfulness adds an exceptional air of elegance. Spirituality is paired with sensuality, despite the rigid nature of the material, which is subtly relativized. The pieces radiate an inherent allure; they are simultaneously representational and abstract. The result is a very delicate, subtle presence. »Modular Shapes« achieves something very special, something that can very rarely be achieved with glass: the need to be touched.

2nd Prize: Danni Chen, was born in 1987, Jinan/China, currently lives in München/Germany, Jewellery
Danni Chen addresses emotions in her work. She creates her brooches, which appear agitated, restive, and in some places fragile, using the traditional lost-wax casting method and by working with the comparatively young material of aluminum. These pieces can resemble genitalia and can be evocative of biomorphic structures or forms from times long ago. Danni Chen thereby creates a multifarious network of associations and connections.

3rd Prize: Vanessa Zöller, was born in 1992, Wertheim am Main/Germany, currently lives in Idar- Oberstein/Germany, Jewellery
A woolly hat fit for a doll? More of a loose-fitting bonnet, in fact. Just like the ones our grandmothers would have worn to avoid flattening their coiffures. At the top, however, is a circular opening with individual hairs protruding from it. They appear almost prickly, as if seeking to protect the interior of this nest-like form and only grudgingly permitting a glance inside. Vanessa Zöller turns her grandmother’s pearls into a brooch in a highly original way: she connects and crochets around them with a self-spun thread made from wool and human hair. »Erbstück« – Heirloom – is the name given to this piece of jewelry that, upon viewing, evokes a number of ambivalent feelings. It is moving; it inspires curiosity; it promises stories. At the same time, it remains reserved, personal and private. Just as an heirloom should.

Commendations to Eunji Han, was born 1990, Gimpo/Korea, currently lives in Yangchon- eup/Korea, Jewellery
At first glance, it could be porcelain. The forms are organic, reminiscent of living things, and the material is light – hanji, Korean paper, overgrown with delicate embroidery. In rhythmic stitches, colorful lines, islands and point clouds spread out across the paper bodies, growing through their walls and beyond them. These beings must surely come from a serene, secretive world – a world we would like to know more about. And, perhaps, even live there.

Commendations to Charlotte Vanhoubroeck, was born 1991, Den Haag/Netherlands, currently lives in Gent/Belgium, Jewellery
It is a fascinating idea: imagining and reconstructing the almost entirely lost jewelry collection of Louise-Marie d’Orléans, who died in 1850, solely on the basis of descriptions in an inventory. This is exactly what Charlotte Vanhoubroeck is doing, using free association to interpret the descriptions, providing illustrative proposals of what form such a collection of sentimental jewelry might take in the 21st century and what memories and emotions the individual pieces could evoke today. In terms of their design vocabulary, the choice of materials, their handcrafted realization and their size, these works remain traditional, historicizing. Perhaps intentionally, the contemporary pieces of jewelry appear formally conventional at first glance and thus remain connected with the epoch of the first Queen of the Belgians.


Finalists
Dovilė Bernadišiūtė, was born 1990 in Vilnius / Litauen, currently lives in Stockholm / Schweden, Jewellery;
Ruhong Chen, was born 1995 in Fujian / China currently lives in Shanghai / China, Jewellery;
Dennis Demand, was born 1988 in Dormagen, currently lives in Altdorf-Pfettrach, Ceramic;
Juanes Sanchis Empar, was born 1990 in València / Spanien, currently lives in Aachen, Jewellery;
Maria Kiialainen, was born 1989 in Helsinki / Finnland, currently lives in Berlin, Jewellery;
Triin Kukk, was born 1990 in Tartu / Estland, currently lives in Tallinn / Estland, Jewellery;
Viktória Maróti, was born 1990 in Szeged / Ungarn, currently lives in Szeged / Ungarn, Ceramic;
Felicia Mülbaier, was born 1988 in Speyer, currently lives in Mannheim, Jewellery;
Lotte Schlör, was born 1993 in München, currently lives in München, Ceramic;
Kazuhiro Toyama, was born 1994 in Tokio / Japan, currently lives in Tokio / Japan, Metalwork;
Lifu Zhou, was born 1994 in Xianyang / China, currently lives in Pforzheim, Jewellery.