The Loewe Craft Prize today announced that they had selected 29 artists from an entry of over 2,500 submissions. The finalist’s works will now be shipped to Japan (as will the artists involved) for the final judging process and on 25 June the winner will be announced by the panel of eleven (it is European…) judges including architect Wang Shu, industrial designer Patricia Urquiola and Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson… The principal prize is 50,000 Euros, there are also interesting residency opportunities…see my blog of September last year.
THE MOON JAR, THE LIFE OF…, Ceramic. AKIKO HIRAI. PHOTO LOEWE FOUNDATION CRAFT PRIZE. One of this year’s entries.
The international cohort of finalists – revealed by LOEWE today – work in a broad spectrum of media, from metal to paper, and include everyone from fairly recent graduates to well-known names.
The LOEWE Foundation Craft Prize, now its third edition, champions artists who have ‘made fundamentally important contributions to the development of contemporary craft’ and ‘whose talent, vision and will to innovate promise[s] to set a new standard for the future’. The work of the shortlisted makers will go on show at Isamu Noguchi’s indoor stone garden ‘Heaven’ at the Sogetsu Foundation in Tokyo (26 June – 22 July 2019).
MANDALA BOWL, Spun Gold. GIOVANNI CORVAJA. PHOTO LOEWE FOUNDATION CRAFT PRIZE. Another entry in this year’s Award exhibition.
Here is the list of finalists
Akiko Hirai (b. Japan, lives and works in United Kingdom)
Andrea Walsh (United Kingdom)
Annie Turner (United Kingdom)
Deloss Webber (United States)
Elke Sada (Germany)
Gentai Ishikuza (Japan)
Giampaolo Babetto (Italy)
Giovanni Corvaja (Italy)
Harry Morgan (United Kingdom)
Heeseung Koh (Korea)
Henar Iglesias (Spain)
Jim Partridge & Liz Walmsley (United Kingdom)
JingFeng Fang & Mi Dong (China)
John Eric Byers (United States)
Jokum Lind Jensen (b. Denmark, lives and works in Sweden)
Junko Mori (b. Japan, lives and works in United Kingdom)
Kazuhito Takadoi (b. Japan, lives and works in United Kingdom)
Koichi lo (Japan)
Kye-Yeon Son (b. Korea, lives and works in Canada)
Youngsoon Lee (Korea)
Masanori Nishikawa (Japan)
Mayu Nakata (Japan)
Michal Fargo (b. Israel, lives and works in Germany)
Minhee Kim (b. Korea, lives and works in United Kingdom)
Ruudt Peters (Netherlands)
Sachi Fujikake (Japan)
Shozo Michikawa (Japan)
Sophie Rowley (b. New Zealand, lives and works in Germany)
Tomonari Hashimoto (Japan)
So, of the finalists, 10 are Japanese, 4 Korean, 5 U.K., 2 each from Italyand China, one each from Israel, Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Denmark plus one from New Zealand. However, a number are nationals of one country yet resident elsewhere. Who knows where they received training? Interesting to see a New Zealander included. Anyone know her and her work?
Cone Ten and descending... 
I had just been thinking thast it would be good for NZers to enter this generous award!
Well there are very few of ours who might make it past first sift through I’m afraid…so much against any success for an Antipodean – origins below the equator, ten or more on the panel, all panellists will be from Europe and will read the cv prior to examining the work, (having been on judging panels up there I have seen this in action – it’s Europe!) No one here is known in Europe and of all the prizes this one clearly wants someone already well known…. up there! When I get info on something where one of ours might stand a chance I target individual artists and send them all the info I can… sometimes they go to the trouble. But I figure it does not harm to occasionally post on a competition where the rewards are splendiferous…or appear to be – sometimes there are strings. particularly the Asian ones…. I hope it keeps them aiming high and realising there is more than Portage!
And no Australian. There does seem to be a focus on material and technique, rather than story or context. Maybe the later would see more antipodeans, or maybe we’re not as interested in these prizes.
I think you are right Kenin. Europe does not highly regard contributions from south of the equator and can tend to allow them to disappear… Antipodeans tend to know that its all a bit of a waste of time entering something that has ten or more on a judging panel and reads CVs before they look at the work. I have been on judging panels up there and saw this in action. Sorry for the delay – just appeared in my space despite the post date!