British artist Edmund De Waal was awarded the London Craft Week Medal last night, an accolade celebrating creativity and craftsmanship. The award was presented during the opening event to London Craft Week at the Victoria and Albert Museum, kicking off a week-long celebration of artisanal prowess, which will immerse the city in a rich programme of workshops, talks, open studios and exhibitions.
Now in its second instalment, the award pays tribute to an individual who has demonstrated exceptional skill, showing innovation and originality, and has given an incredible contribution to craftsmanship: De Waal’s work ticks all boxes. After learning pottery at a young age, he started experimenting with the medium working across England and in Japan. De Waal became known for his installation of ceramic vessels, often presented in monochromatic arrangements, which have been exhibited in museums across the world.
‘It’s a ridiculous pleasure, receiving this award in my favourite museum,’ said De Waal upon being presented with the medal. ‘Craft is a way of thinking about the world. Craft crosses all kinds of boundaries, it’s about head, heart, eyes and hands.’ Receiving the award in London, he added, was a special pleasure. ‘[London] is a place where for two millennia, people have been bringing different crafts to reinvent the city, which has now become an international community of friends I am incredibly proud of.’
The award was presented by fashion designer Hussein Chalayan, who himself will participate in London Craft Week with a talk discussing his garment construction techniques. Having been an admirer of De Waal’s work for a long time, Chalayan spoke fondly of the artist’s approach to craft. ‘He is someone who uses hard forms creating new connections between past and present, the visible and the invisible,’ he says. ‘He brought craft to a different level, incorporating the written word, using the medium to create narratives.’
Detail of Music in thirteen parts, 2017, which comprises 11 porcelain vessels and two alabaster blocks in an aluminium and plexiglass vitrine
Vita silente, I, 2017, five porcelain vessels and three alabaster blocks with gilding on an aluminium shelf
Vita silente, II, 2017, 7 porcelain vessels and one alabaster block on an aluminium shelf
Vita silente, III, 2017, five porcelain vessels, four alabaster blocks and one porcelain tile on an aluminium shelf
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the London Craft Week website
-
Seven designers rethinking wood at London Design FestivalAt this year’s London Design Festival, wood proves itself anything but static. We highlight seven designers shaping, colouring, and engineering it in surprising ways
-
Inside Kazakhstan’s brutalist Tselinny cinema – now a hub for contemporary cultureTselinny Center of Contemporary Culture, a modernist landmark redesigned for its new purpose by Asif Khan, gears up for its grand opening in Kazakhstan
-
Oliver Spencer’s orbiting installation offers a meditative shopping experience during London Design FestivalAt Oliver Spencer’s Shoreditch store, a sensory light installation by Studio Rhythmics offers a calming moment during LDF
-
Ramzi Mallat’s London Design Festival installation is a bittersweet ode to BeirutCreated as a memorial to the 2020 Beirut Port Blast, Mallat's ‘Not Your Martyr’ installation at the V&A (until 19 October 2025) is made of 260 colourful glass ma’amouls
-
Norman Foster and nine other architects design birdhouses for charity – you can bid‘Architects for the Birds’ is spearheaded by Norman Foster and the Tessa Jowell Foundation to raise funds to improve treatment for brain cancer. Ten architect-designed birdhouses will go up for auction
-
The David Collins Foundation celebrates creativity in all its forms at London Design FestivalThe David Collins Foundation presents ‘Convergence’ at the Lavery during London Design Festival 2025 (on view until 19 September), featuring works from the Arts Foundation’s annual Futures Awards
-
Lee Broom’s brutalist-inspired ‘Beacon’ will light up London as Big Ben strikes the hourSet to pulse through London Design Festival 2025 (13-22 September) and beyond, the British industrial designer’s sculptural light installation on the South Bank draws on its surroundings
-
Yuri Suzuki turns sound into architecture at Camden Arts ProjectsThe sound designer unveils ‘Utooto’, an interactive installation at London’s Camden Arts Projects (until 5 October 2025), in which visitors collaboratively build a sonic piece of architecture
-
Alex Tieghi-Walker unveils his plans for Brompton Design District 2025Ahead of London Design Festival 2025, we catch up with New York gallerist Alex Tieghi-Walker about his appointment as curator of the Brompton Design District programme
-
‘The point was giving ordinary people access to bold taste’: how Ikea brought pattern into the home‘Ikea: Magical Patterns’ at Dovecot Gallery in Edinburgh tells the story of a brand that gave us not only furniture, but a new way of seeing our homes – as canvases for self-expression
-
Design beyond humans: a new exhibition argues that the world doesn’t revolve around us‘More Than Human’ at London's Design Museum (until 5 October 2025) asks what happens when design focuses on the perspectives and needs of other species, from bees to seaweed
