The exhibition of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2023 will be held from May 17 to June 18, 2023, in New York. The 30 finalist’s work for the prize will go on display in Isamu Noguchi’s Studio at The Noguchi Museum. The venue was at the center of Noguchi’s artistic practice in the United States during the last decades of his life. The space has not been open to the public before, and the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2023 will be the first public exhibition in the space.

This year’s 30 finalists were chosen by a panel of experts from over 2,700 submissions representing 117 countries and regions. The selected finalists represent 16 countries, including 6 from Japan, which has the highest number of finalists among all countries represented. In their deliberations, the panel sought to identify the most outstanding works in terms of technical accomplishment, skills, innovation, and artistic vision. The selected works cover a range of fields including ceramics, woodwork, textiles, furniture, paper, basketry, glass, metal, jewelry lacquer, leather, and bookbinding.

This 6th edition of the prize presents works that explore meditative, time-intensive techniques and skillful manipulation of materials. Unexpected forms and colors show a sense of playfulness and surprise. The use of trompe l’oeil techniques found in many of the works; on first look they appear to be made from one material and on closer inspection are revealed to be another entirely. Many of the works presented in this year’s shortlist also examine the relationship between light, material, and surface, with an expert handling of materials and form used to transform the reflective properties of the works and to create a sense of movement. Regarding the selection process, Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, Executive Secretary of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize Experts Panel, said: “On the sixth edition, we have felt that, with the Prize character established, we ought to open doors. And therefore, we are happy to have been able to further expose the notion of craft with artistic ambition by analyzing non-western cannon aesthetics as well as by approaching figurative craft.”

The winner of the prize, selected from among the 30 finalists, will be announced and awarded 50,000 Euros at the opening of the Craft Prize 2023 on May 16, 2023. A jury of 13 leading figures from the world of design, architecture, journalism, criticism, and museum curatorship will select the winner from finalists submitted by the experts panel. Naoto Fukasawa, designer and director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum will join the jury as a member from Japan.

The annual prize of LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize was launched by the LOEWE FOUNDATION in 2016, which is conceived by creative director Jonathan Anderson. The prize was founded as a tribute to LOEWE’s beginnings as a collective craft workshop in 1846. The award celebrates excellence, artistic merit, and innovation in modern craftsmanship, and aims to acknowledge the importance of crafts in today’s culture and to recognize artists’ talent, vision and will to innovate promise to set a new standard for the future.

■ The selected finalists for the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2023
(in alphabetical order, with nationality)

Ai Shikanji (Japan)
Aranda\Lasch & Terrol Dew Johnson (United States)
Claire Lindner (France)
Dominique Zinkpè (Benin)
Dong Han (People’s Republic of China)
Eriko Inazaki (Japan)
Giorgi Danibegashvili (Georgia)
Healim Shin (Republic of Korea)
Inchin Lee (Republic of Korea)
Jaiik Lee (Republic of Korea)
Jana Visser (South Africa)
Johannes Kuhnen (Australia)
Kaori Juzu (Denmark)
Keeryoung Choi (United Kingdom)
Kenji Honma (Japan)
Kristin McKirdy (France)
Kyouhong Lee (Republic of Korea)
Lene Bødker (Denmark)
Liam Lee (United States)
Luz Moreno Pinart (Spain)
Mabel Irene Pena (Argentina)
Maina Devi (India)
Maki Imoto (Japan)
Moe Watanabe (Japan)
Nathalie Doyen (Belgium)
Prue Venables (Australia)
Shinji Nakaba (Japan)
Tanya Aguiñiga (United States)
Wanbing Huang (People’s Republic of China)
Woosun Cheon (Republic of Korea)

■ General information
LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2023
Exhibition dates: May 17 to June 18, 2023
Venue: The Noguchi Museum (New York)
Website: https://craftprize.loewe.com/en/craftprize2023