Loewe CRAFT FOUNDATION 2026 Winner
The thirty finalists of the 2026 Loewe FOUNDATION CRAFT Prize present their selected work at the National Gallery in Singapore through June 14th. The winner of this year’s prize was Korean artist Jongjn Park with special mentions to Baba Tree Master Weavers and Álvaro Catalán Ocón, and Graziano Vistintin (Italy).
On May 13th, LOEWE announced Jongjin Park (Korea) as the winner of the 2026 LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize, with two special mentions going to Baba Tree Master Weavers and Álvaro Catalán Ocón and Graziano Vistintin (Italy). The winners were announced at a ceremony at the National Gallery Singapore, where all 30 of the shortlisted works are being exhibited through June 14, 2026.
Jongjin Park’s winning sculpture, Strata of Illusion, (2025), has a unique, seat-like form that “explores the tension between control and collapse.” Park has a meticulous, process of layering and folding thousands of sheets of paper that are then coated in coloured porcelain slip, creating a textured, semi-amorphous yet geometric sculpture that is at once painterly and jewel-like. His work is completely surprising in its layered detail that references glassblowing techniques as well as bookbinding, while transforming the possibilities of ceramics as well. As the press release stated, “The jury chose the work of Jongjin Park for its ability to confound expectations of what ceramics can be, revealing a sculptural presence that is at once unexpected and purposeful.”
One of the two special mention awards went to a collaboration between Baba Tree Master Weavers, a Ghana-based studio, and Spanish designer Álvaro Catalán Ocón, for their work Frafra Tapestry (2024). The living anthropological document is a large-scale, communally woven tapestry based on aerial photography that was then translated into architectural plans, of a traditional village in Ghana’s Gurunsi region. They used traditional basketry techniques with natural and dyed elephant-grass. It was noted that the jury admired the use of “contemporary technology with ancestral weaving knowledge, a cross-continent collaboration that records collective memory, threatened architectural traditions and way of life.” The other special mention went to Italian jewellery maker Graziano Visintin for his work Collier (2025), two necklaces that are composed of tiny cubes built from gold sheets and decorated with niello, an ancient metalworking technique that created a painterly effect on the gold, as if it was showing endless miniature paintings strung together.
The winners were chosen by a jury of leading figures from the worlds of design, architecture, criticism and museum curatorship including Frida Escobedo, Patricia Urquiola, Abraham Thomas and Olivier Gabet, alongside creative directors of LOEWE, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. Jongjin Park was awarded €50,000 and each special mention will receive €5,000.
Sheila Loewe, President of the LOEWE FOUNDATION, writes: ‘In the ninth edition of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize, I am prouder than ever. This year’s shortlist has been one of the hardest to judge and provided the jury with the opportunity to discuss the far reaches of what craft can be – and will be in the future. I feel continually honoured to be at the heart of such discovery, excitement and skill in the world of craft and witness close hand the creative endeavour of such extraordinary artists.’
In mediums ranging from ceramics, woodworking, textiles, furniture, bookbinding, glass, metal, jewellery and lacquer, the 30-shortlisted works were selected from over 5,100 submissions from artists representing 133 countries and regions. The exhibition will remain on view at the National Gallery in Singapore, a leading visual arts institution and the largest modern and contemporary art museum in Southeast Asia, through June 14th, 2026.
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