LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2025 Winners

Kunimasa Aoki was chosen from 30 finalists by a distinguished jury composed of 12 leading figures from the worlds of design, architecture, journalism, criticism and museum curatorship, including Patricia Urquiola, architect and industrial designer, Olivier Gabet, Director of the Department of Decorative Arts at the Louvre Museum, architect Wang Shu, ceramicist Magdalene Odundo, and essayist and architect Frida Escobedo.

Kunimasa Aoki’s anamorphic terracotta sculpture explores the ways in which clay cracks and distorts when force is applied. Using innovative new building techniques and the effects of time, gravity and pressure, layers of clay have been stacked and compressed, smoked in the kiln and then coated with a decorative finish of soil and pencil marks.

In their deliberations, the jury sought to identify the most outstanding works in terms of technical accomplishment, skills, innovation and artistic vision. The jury chose the work of Kunimasa Aoki for its honest expression of the ancestral coil process, and how the material is expressed in its raw, unfinished form. The intricate details of the surface form ‘little universes’ which are created through the compression of the terracotta coils. The element of risk in the firing process is a testimony to the tenacity and commitment it takes to make a sculpture such as this.

The jury also agreed on two special mentions:
Nifemi Marcus-Bello (b. 1988, Nigeria) for his work ‘TM Bench with Bowl’ (2023). Created from reclaimed aluminium from the car industry, the sculptural work explores ideas of globalisation, trade, and the dynamics of power. The Jury appreciated the simplicity of the raw material, combined with geometric forms which creates a quiet yet powerful statement on consumerism.

Studio Sumakshi Singh (b.1980, b.1972, b.1979, b.1983, India) for their work ‘Monument’ (2024). This life-size reimagining of a column from a 12th-century colonnade in Delhi has been created using copper zari, threaded onto water-soluble fabric, which was then dissolved, leaving only the thread behind. The jury noted the poetic contrast between the work’s strong presence and its delicate structure, which serves as an eloquent testament to the enduring memory and resilience of cultural histories in the face of the physical degradation of monuments and the passage of time.


This year’s edition of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize presents a selection of works which innovatively transpose ancient craft techniques from their traditional medium to new materials, such as basketry to clay and weaving on the loom to metal, while elsewhere traditional motifs have been reimagined and reinterpreted.

Oral tradition, ritual and knowledge passed through generations are expressed in works that pay reverence to this rich inheritance. While in other works, the artists have forged their own path, creating unique sculptural forms that offer a new direction.
Some of these new forms conjure a sense of whimsy and the fantastical, while in some the work of the hand is more evident through a gestural treatment of surface.

All 30 of the shortlisted works will be exhibited at Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid from 30 May until 29 June 2025. The exhibition is available to view online and will be documented in an exhibition catalogue.

All 30 of the shortlisted works will be exhibited at Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid from 30 May until 29 June 2025. The exhibition is available to view online and will be documented in an exhibition catalogue.

This year’s finalists were chosen by a panel of experts from over 4,600 submissions by artisans representing 133 countries and regions. The 30 finalists, representing 18 countries and regions, work across a range of mediums including ceramics, woodwork, textiles, furniture, paper, glass, metal, jewellery and lacquer. 

A tribute to LOEWE’s beginnings as a collective craft workshop in 1846, the annual Craft Prize was launched by the LOEWE FOUNDATION in 2016 to celebrate excellence, artistic merit, and innovation in modern craftsmanship. The award aims to acknowledge the importance of craft in today’s culture and to recognise artists whose talent, vision and will to innovate, promise to set a new standard for the future.


Opening hours and location
Monday: 12.00 - 16.00 (free access).
From Tuesday to Friday and Sunday: 10.00 - 19.00.
Saturday: 10.00 - 23.00 (Thyssen Nights: Free access from 21.00 to 23.00).
Tickets

>> Book here your Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2025 guided tour


Digital exhibition 2025
Explore the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize through our digital exhibition, which presents the 30 shortlisted pieces alongside insights into the artists and their processes, as well as exclusive studio tours. The 2025 finalists showcased works spanning a wide range of mediums, including ceramics, woodwork, textiles, furniture, paper, glass, metal, jewellery and lacquer.
View the digital exhibition