Spanish fashion house Loewe has announced the winner of its 2025 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize – dedicated to celebrating the contemporary evolution of traditional craft practices – as Kunimasa Aoki. The Japanese sculptor was chosen for his terracotta work ‘Realm of Living Things 19’ (2024), in which layers of clay have been stacked and compressed – expressing cracks and distortion from the force – before being smoked and coated with soil and pencil marks. He describes the work as ‘50 per cent tradition and 50 per cent innovation’.
The Japanese sculptor was chosen for his terracotta work ‘Realm of Living Things 19’ (2024), in which layers of clay have been stacked and compressed
Aoki was selected as the winner by a jury of 12 leading figures from the worlds of design, architecture, journalism, criticism and curating, including designer Patricia Urquiola, ceramicist Magdalene Odundo, and architect Frida Escobedo. The panel praised Aoki’s technical accomplishment, skill, innovation and artistic vision, selecting his work for its use of the ancestral coil process and its intricate surface details. As the prize winner, Aoki receives €50,000.
30 finalists were shortlisted for the prize, displaying a range of international craft skill and creativity. Alongside Aoki as the winner, two other finalists were given special mentions by the jury: Nifemi Marcus-Bello and Studio Sumakshi Singh.
‘TM Bench with Bowl’ (2023) by Nifemi Marcus-Bello, who was awarded a special mention
Marcus-Bello, a Lagos-based designer and artist, was celebrated for his work ‘TM Bench with Bowl’ (2023). The sculptural furniture piece of simple geometric forms is created from reclaimed aluminium from the car industry, cast in pieces before being welded together and sanded. The work explores ideas of globalisation, trade and the dynamics of power, becoming a powerful yet practical meditation on consumerism and the life of materials.
In a recent interview with Wallpaper*, Marcus-Bello discussed how the intersection of craft, history and function is central to his approach, which investigates how materials influence and reflect the societies that use them. ‘Objects are more than their function,’ he explained. ‘They carry histories, relationships, and meanings that shape how we interact with them.’
‘Monument’ (2024), by Studio Sumakshi Singh, is a life-size reimagining of a column from a 12th-century colonnade in Delhi, made using copper zari, a metallic thread
Studio Sumakshi Singh, based in Gurugram, India, comprises artist Sumakshi Singh, alongside Birendranath Sarkar, Samarjeet Samarjeet and Bikas Barman – working across textiles, threadwork, sculpture, painting and installation. For the Craft Prize the studio was highlighted for its work ‘Monument’ (2024), a life-size reimagining of a column from a 12th-century colonnade in Delhi, made using copper zari, a metallic thread. The jury praised the delicate structure of the piece and the way it forms a testament to the resilience of cultural histories in the face of physical degradation over time.
The other finalists for the prize spanned a diversity of mediums and craft practices, including glassware, jewellery design, pottery, woodworking, furniture making, embroidery and silversmithing. All the finalists’ work is on show at Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid until 29 June 2025.
The Loewe Foundation Craft Prize is an annual award established in 2016 by the Loewe Foundation, a cultural body that the fashion brand set-up in 1988 to support design, culture and craftsmanship. The prize honours Loewe’s origins, as a craft workshop of leather artisans which began in 1846.
Book tickets for the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize exhibition at Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid until 29 June 2025
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