Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2025: Japan's Kunimasa Aoki wins for striking terracotta sculpture exploring the tension between control and chaos, as the prize returns to Madrid
Now in its eighth year, the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize has established itself as one of the most prestigious accolades in contemporary craft, celebrating innovation and creativity across a range of disciplines including ceramics, jewellery, textiles and woodwork.
Launched in 2016 by
Jonathan Anderson , then-creative director of Spanish luxury house Loewe, the prize was created to elevate craft and honour the artisans shaping its future. Rooted in Loewe's beginnings as a Madrid workshop in 1846, it offers a global platform to contemporary makers.
Thirty artists were shortlisted for the 2025 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize. Photo: Handout
Advertisement
'It gives me such pleasure to see the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize provide a platform for extraordinary talent, and change the perception of craft internationally,' said Sheila Loewe, president of the Loewe Foundation and the fifth generation of the Loewe family to become part of the company, during a preview of the finalists' work. 'Over the past decade we have seen the prize transform lives, careers, and build a global community.'
This year, the prize returned to Madrid – where the inaugural edition was held – after being hosted in cities including Seoul, New York and Paris. The 2025 finalists' works are currently on display at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum until June 29.
At the opening ceremony on May 29, Japanese sculptor Kunimasa Aoki was named the winner of the 2025 edition for his work Realm of Living Things 19, receiving the €50,000 award (US$56,800).
The winning art piece, Realm of Living Things 19, by Japanese sculptor Kunimasa Aoki. Photo: Handout
Aoki's anamorphic terracotta sculpture explores the tension between control and chaos. Using stacked coils of clay compressed under gravity and fired to the brink of collapse, the piece is finished with soil and pencil marks that highlight its textured, organic surface. The jury praised the work for its 'honest expression of the ancestral coil process', noting how the piece's 'little universes' emerge through the raw compression of material. '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 said.
For Sheila Loewe, the work exemplifies the values of the prize. 'The winning piece … you have to be the most skilled artist in the world to create this,' she said. 'It has everything. It has an ancient technique. It's updated. It's beautiful.'
Nigerian designer Nifemi Marcus-Bello received a special mention for TM Bench with Bowl. Photo: Handout
The jury also had two special mentions to award. Nigerian designer Nifemi Marcus-Bello was recognised for TM Bench with Bowl, a sculptural bench made from recycled aluminium that critiques global trade and consumerism. 'It felt like I was part of a very important cohort,' said Marcus-Bello at the press preview of the exhibition. 'I don't think I've been in a place where I've seen so many contemporary craftspeople in one place. It's usually a very small crowd of people. For me, when I walked through the exhibition, it felt like a tribe.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
5 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
200-year-old condom decorated with erotic art goes on display in Amsterdam museum
The Netherlands' national museum has a new object on display that merges art with Amsterdam's infamous red-light district: a nearly 200-year-old condom, emblazoned with erotic art. Advertisement The Rijksmuseum said the playful prophylactic, believed to have been made around 1830 from a sheep's appendix, 'depicts both the playful and the serious side of sexual health'. It is part of an exhibition called 'Safe Sex?' about 19th-century sex work that opened on June 3. The condom, possibly a souvenir from a brothel, is decorated with an erotic image of a nun and three clergymen. The condom emblazoned with an erotic image featuring a nun and three clergymen, and believed to have been made nearly 200 years ago from a sheep's appendix, on display at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum. Photo: Rijksmuseum via AP The phrase 'This is my choice' is written along the sheath in French. According to the museum, this is a reference to the Pierre-Auguste Renoir painting The Judgment of Paris, which depicts the Trojan prince Paris judging a beauty contest between three goddesses.
South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Canadian wildfire smoke reaches Europe; hazy skies over Paris expected
Heavy smoke from intense wildfires in Canada has reached northwestern Europe , the European Union 's climate monitoring service said on Tuesday. The huge plumes are at a very high altitude and do not pose an immediate health risk, it said in a statement. 'Smoke originating from the wildfires in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan has been transported across the Atlantic,' the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) said. Satellites tracked the smoke in mid-May, with some plumes reaching as far east as Greece and the eastern Mediterranean. 'A second, much larger, smoke plume crossed the Atlantic during the last week of May, reaching northwestern parts of Europe on June 1,' CAMS said. Additional plumes are expected to shade the continent in the coming days.
South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Who is Jonathan Anderson's boyfriend, Pol Anglada? The Northern Irish designer was just named Dior's sole creative director – alongside him is his ex-Loewe partner, who he calls ‘an inspiration'
On June 2, luxury conglomerate LVMH confirmed one of fashion's worst-kept secrets: designer Jonathan Anderson will be taking over Dior as the brand's sole creative director. News of Anderson's appointment comes mere days after Dior womenswear creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri 's exit was announced. Dior has announced Jonathan Anderson as creative director of its women's, men's and haute couture collections. Photo: @dior/Instagram 'I think this is going to be great for the maison. There will be consistency and coherence in the products, but also in terms of communication, I think our message will be much clearer,' Delphine Arnault , chair and CEO of Christian Dior Couture, said in an interview with Vogue. 'Of course, it's a big responsibility – there are a lot of connections that need to be made. For any house, having new artistic direction can be a challenge. It takes a few seasons to see exactly what the vision is. But I think [Anderson's] totally energised by the idea.' Advertisement Pol Anglada has been publicly known as Jonathan Anderson's boyfriend since March. This is the first time the brand will be run under a single creative director since Christian Dior himself helmed his eponymous label. Between his collections for Dior and his eponymous label, Jonathan Anderson will be overseeing 18 fashion collections per year. Photo: Yu Cong Stepping into his new role, Anderson has his work cut out for him. After earning critical acclaim over his 11 years at Loewe , Anderson will be designing 10 collections per year at Dior – all the while continuing to design six collections per year for his namesake label, JW Anderson. Additionally, JW Anderson's ongoing collaboration with Uniqlo adds two extra collections per year, bringing Anderson's total to 18 collections per year. In her interview with Vogue, Arnault also mentioned that Anderson would be bringing key talents whom he's worked with in the past to Dior. While she didn't specify or give any names, the fashion world has taken note that Loewe's women's ready-to-wear head designer Pol Anglada has listed himself as a senior designer at Christian Dior Couture since February. Anderson and Anglada are also in a relationship, as confirmed by The New Yorker in March. Here's everything to know about Pol Anglada. He's a designer by day …
