The Loewe Foundation Craft Prize worth €50,000, the world's most lucrative award for craft, has released the shortlist for its fifth edition. The winner will be announced at a ceremony on 30 June at the newly opened Seoul Museum of Craft Art (SeMoCA), the country’s first museum dedicated to Korean craft, where the nominated works will be on display from 1-31 July.
This year’s 30 finalists were chosen from over 3,100 submissions by artisans from 116 countries. The finalists selected represent 15 countries and work across a list of mediums including ceramics, leather, jewellery and lacquer. Submitted works include a structure made of tracing paper capable of supporting a human's weight, and a basket spun out of horsehair.
Previous iterations of the prize have been exhibited at Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid (COAM), Madrid; The Design Museum, London; Isamu Noguchi’s indoor stone garden ‘Heaven’ at the Sogetsu Kaikan, Tokyo; and digitally in a joint presentation with Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
The finalists are: Andile Dyalvane (South Africa); Annika Jarring (Sweden); Awaré (France); Beate Leonards (Germany); Blast Studio (United Kingdom); Chikuunsai Tanabe (Japan); Dahye Jeong (Republic of Korea); David Clarke (United Kingdom); Domingos Tótora (Brazil); Eleanor Lakelin (United Kingdom); Fernando Casasempere (Chile); Fredrik Nielsen (Sweden); Junsu Kim (Republic of Korea); Julia Obermaier (Germany); Kate Malone (United Kingdom); Konrad Koppold (Germany); Lu Bin (China); Madoda Fani (South Africa); Marianne Huotari (Finland); Mayumi Onagi (Japan); Mel Douglas (Australia); Minwook Kim (Republic of Korea); Myungtaek Jung (Republic of Korea); Pao Hui Kao (Taiwan); Peter T. McCarthy (Cote d'Ivoire); Sangwook Huh (Republic of Korea); Soyun Jung (Republic of Korea); Trinidad Contreras (Spain); Vera Siemund (Germany); and Yongjin Chung (Republic of Korea).
The winner will be selected from a panel including British ceramicist Magdalene Odundo and Abraham Thomas, curator of modern architecture, design and decorative arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Jonathan Anderson, the creative chief of Loewe, says in a statement: "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."