The Loewe Foundation has announced the shortlist for its 2025 Craft Prize, selecting 30 artists from 18 countries. These finalists will present their works in an exhibition at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid from the 30th of May to the 29th of June 2025. The prize winner will be chosen on the 29th of May and will be announced during the opening ceremony for the group exhibition. The recipient will receive a €50,000 ($51,000) award. The winner is selected by a 13-person jury composed of leading names in design, architecture, journalism as well as museum curatorship. “Year on year, 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 foundation. “Over the past decade, we have seen the Prize transform lives, careers and build a global community. It is my great privilege to continue my family’s legacy.”
Founded in 2016, the annual award pays homage to the fashion house’s origin as a craft workshop going back to 1846. This year, the award received more than 4,600 applicants from 133 countries and regions, up from 3,900 submissions last year. The 2024 winner was Mexican ceramic artist Andrés Anza, awarded for his ceramic sculpture titled ‘I only know what I have seen’ (2023). Among this year’s finalists are several experimental textile artists, including Dickens Otieno, who represented Kenya at the 2022 Venice Biennale, Nifemi Marcus-Bello (Nigeria) as well as Kobina Adusah (Ghana). Bahamian Anina Major, known for her experimental weaving techniques, won the The Armory Show 2024 Pommery Prize last fall. Notably, five artists on the shortlist hail from Japan, including Rei Chikaoka and Fumiki Taguchi.
“With each edition, the exhibition seeks to showcase extraordinary craftsmanship, demonstrating how artisans work with both precious and non-precious materials—using traditional hand-tools or cutting-edge—to shape a contemporary culture enriched by the talent of diverse and distant creative traditions,” said Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, executive secretary of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize expert panel. This is exactly what the foundation seeks to achieve with this year’s winner, which will be announced on the 29th of May, for more information look out on Loewe Foundation’s website here.
