Meet the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2021 Finalists| The Impression

Loewe Craft Exhibition Goes Digital With New Dates, Jury & Finalist

The Loewe Foundation and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs released new dates and details for the postponed fourth edition of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2021. In light of the recent restrictions which have been put in place in France, the 2021 edition will be a digital-only exhibition, opening online on 25 May 2021.

The award, which was conceived by Loewe Creative Director Jonathan Anderson, aims to acknowledge the importance of craft in today’s culture and recognize working artists whose talent, vision, and will to innovate promise to set a new standard for the future. The prize was conceived as a tribute to Loewe’s beginnings as a collective craft workshop in 1846.

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.
– Jonathan Anderson

Digital technology will enable viewers to walk around the exhibition in the Great Hall of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, which will be modelled for the first time in 3D. The works, also be modelled in 3D, will be experienced through high definition 360 degree ‘close up’ filming and augmented reality, allowing visitors to bring each piece into their home through a smartphone.

The exhibit contatins an exciting array of objects spanning textile, ceramic, porcelain, wood, copper, resin, metal, paper, glass and lacquer. Many of the artists chosen this year use found and upcycled materials in their work. The finalists demonstrate a mastery of material, reimagination of traditional techniques and display a brave willingness to experiment.

30 finalists from 6 continents and 18 countries will be featured in the exhibition. These contestants make up some of the best in contemporary craft from across the globe.

Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, Executive Secretary of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize Experts Panel, stated: ‘This year’s prize is more international than ever and the shortlisted works show a conversation across continents and generations, with young and established makers embracing and reinvigorating tradition in surprising and masterful ways. We are seeing works of the highest cultural and aesthetic ambition, inspired by themes that reflect the state of the world. For all this, the plurality and openness of the Prize promises so much today and into the future.’

A jury composed of 12 leading figures from the world of architecture, fashion, design and art, including Olivier Gabet, Director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris and Genta Ishizuka winner of the 2019 edition, will make the selection for who will receive the €50,000 prize.

Meet the jury:

Anatxu Zabalbeascoa (Chair), architecture and design correspondent for El País.
Benedetta Tagliabue, architect and RIBA Stirling Prize winner.
Deyan Sudjic, essayist and Director Emeritus of the Design Museum, London.
Enrique Loewe, LOEWE FOUNDATION Honorary President.
Genta Ishizuka, Winner of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2019.
Hongnam Kim, President of the National Trust of Korea.
Jonathan Anderson, LOEWE Creative Director.
Naoto Fukasawa, designer and Director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum, Tokyo.
Olivier Gabet, Director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
Patricia Urquiola, architect and industrial designer.
Wang Shu, architect and Pritzker Prize winner.
Wolfgang Lösche, Head of Exhibitions and Fairs at the Chamber of Skilled Trades, Munich

10 experts convened in Madrid for two days in January 2020 to review almost 3,000 submissions and select the shortlist for the prize.

Meet the experts:

Anatxu Zabalbeascoa (Executive Secretary), architecture and design correspondent for El País.
Antonia Boström, Director of Collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Hyeyoung Cho, Secretary General at the Korea Craft and Design Foundation.
Krzysztof Lukasik, product designer.
Koichi Io, metalsmith and finalist of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2019.
Paula Aza, LOEWE Director of Architecture and Visual Merchandising.
Ramón Puig Cuyàs, jewellery artist.
Rodman Primack, former Executive Director and Chief Creative Officer of Design Miami.
Sara Flynn, ceramist and finalist of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2017.
Sylvie Vandenhoucke, glass artist and finalist of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2017.

The selected finalists for the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2021 are (in alphabetical order, with nationality):

Afsaneh Modiramani (Iran)
Anthony Marsh (United States)
Bodil Manz (Denmark)
Carla Garcia Durlan (Spain)
Darshana Raja (Kenya)
David Corvalán (Chile)
Despo Sophocleous (Canada)
Edu Tarín (Germany)
Fanglu Lin (China)
Hyejeong Kim (Republic of Korea)
Jack Doherty (Ireland)
Jess Tolbert (United States)
Jessica Loughlin (Australia)
Jiyong Lee (United States)
Joël Andrianomearisoa (Madagascar)
Kevin Grey (United Kingdom)
Kohei Ukai (Japan)
Kyeok Kim (Republic of Korea)
Marc Ricourt (France)
Naama Haneman (Israel)
Peter Bauhuis (Germany)
Sukkeun Kang (Republic of Korea)
Sungho Cho (Republic of Korea
Sungyoul Park (Republic of Korea)
Takayuki Sakiyama (Japan)
Tobias Møhl (Denmark)
Veronika Beckh (Germany)
Waqas Khan (Pakistan)
Xavier Toubes (Spain)
Yang Gao (China)