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 May 30th to June 29th.
The prize winner will be chosen on May 29th and 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, and 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 the 3,900 submissions last year. The 2024 winner was Mexican ceramic artist Andrés Anza, awarded for his ceramic sculpture I only know what I have seen (2023).
Among the finalists are several experimental textile artists, including Brazilian artist Jessica Costa and Dickens Otieno, who represented Kenya at the 2022 Venice Biennale. Another finalist, Bahamian artist 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. In total, nearly half of the shortlisted practitioners live in Asia.
“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 technology—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.
The full list of award finalists is as follows:
Correction: Based on initial communications, a previous version of this article incorrectly stated that there were 12 members of Loewe Foundation’s jury and that there were more than 4,500 applicants from 132 countries.
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