The works selected for the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize shortlist will go on display at Palais de Tokyo in Paris from 15 May to 9 June 2024. Many of the works repurpose found or recycled materials and there is a focus on the elevation and transformation of the everyday, such as rubber tyres and compressed wood, which are not traditionally associated with craft. A combination of skill and mastery of technique, guided by intuition and chance, has been utilised in the creation of several works on this year’s shortlist and many feature organic, biomorphic forms that push materials to their physical limits to present new configurations and unique shapes not seen before.

This year’s finalists were chosen by a panel of experts from over 3,900 submissions by artisans representing 124 countries and regions. The finalists, representing 16 countries and regions, work across a range of mediums including ceramics, woodwork, textiles, furniture, paper, basketry, glass, metal, jewellery, lacquer and leather. In their deliberations, the panel sought to identify the most outstanding works in terms of technical accomplishment, skills, innovation and artistic vision.

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, envisioned by LOEWE creative director Jonathan Anderson, 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.

Works by the 30 finalists will go on display at Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Europe’s largest contemporary art centre, and will be documented in an exhibition catalogue. Previous iterations of the prize have been exhibited at Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid (COAM), Madrid (2017); The Design Museum, London (2018); Isamu Noguchi’s indoor stone garden ‘Heaven’ at the Sogetsu Kaikan, Tokyo (2019); digitally in a joint presentation with Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (2021); Seoul Museum of Craft Art (SeMoCA), Seoul (2022) and in Isamu Noguchi’s studio at the Noguchi Museum, New York (2023).

Jonathan Anderson stated at the award’s inception: ‘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 selection process, Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, Executive Secretary of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize Expert Panel, said: ‘With the seventh edition of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize, we continue to push the boundaries of craft and expand its horizons, with a showcase that includes works created from recycled materials, as various as glass, copper, wire and silicone, by artists around the globe. Our inspiration stems from a celebration of everyday monumentality, that paradoxically challenges the distinction between art and craft. Craft, to us, embodies creativity, meaning, culture, and technique and we believe that traditions are best preserved when they are questioned and reimagined.’

A jury composed of 12 leading figures from the world of design, architecture, journalism, criticism, and museum curatorship will select the winner of the 2024 LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize. The winner will be awarded €50,000 and the announcement will be made on 14 May 2024, at the opening of the exhibition at Palais de Tokyo.

The selected finalists for the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2024 are (in alphabetical order, with country or region):

Andrés Anza (Mexico)

Miki Asai (Japan)

Patrick Bongoy (Democratic Republic of the Congo) emmanuel boos (France)

Chun Tai Chen (Taiwan Region)

Eunmi Chun (Republic of Korea)

Ange Dakouo (Mali)

Ken Eastman (United Kingdom)

Jeremy Frey (United States)

Karl Fritsch (New Zealand)

Kevin Grey (United Kingdom)

Raven Halfmoon (United States)

Yuefeng He (Mainland China)

Ferne Jacobs (United States)

Racso Jugarap (Philippines)

Hiroshi Kaneyasu (Japan)

Heechan Kim (Republic of Korea)

Kira Kim (Republic of Korea)

Alison Croney Moses (United States)

Gaku Nakane (Japan)

Aya Oki (United States)

Ozioma Onuzulike (Nigeria)

Weon Rhee (Jongwon Lee) (Republic of Korea)

Ikuya Sagara (Japan)

Luis Santos Montes (Spain)

Saar Scheerlings (Netherlands)

Polly Adams Sutton (United States)

Kazuhiro Toyama (Japan)

Norman Weber (Germany)

Debaroun (Dahyeon Yoo) (Republic of Korea)