The Loewe Foundation has revealed the 30 finalists for the ninth edition of the Craft Prize, selected from more than 5,100 submissions representing 133 countries and regions. The shortlisted works will be exhibited at the National Gallery Singapore from 13 May to 14 June 2026, with the winner and two special mentions announced on 12 May. This year’s edition foregrounds a shared exploration of balance and instability, where precision meets rupture and order gives way to subtle disruption.
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Across ceramics, woodwork, textiles, furniture, bookbinding, glass, metal, jewellery and lacquer, the selected artists probe the limits of material and structure. Restrained palettes shift through unexpected colour interventions. Smooth surfaces fracture under deliberate cuts or layered interventions. Geometries warp and bend, suggesting movement within systems that initially appear fixed. References to growth, decay and cyclical transformation recur, with cutting, weaving, bending and layering embedded into each process. Craft emerges here as a living language shaped by continuity and interruption.
The 2026 finalists, listed in alphabetical order with their country or region, are: Baba Tree Master Weavers × Álvaro Catalán de Ocón (Spain); Jobe Burns (United Kingdom); Soohyun Chou (Republic of Korea); Morten Løbner Espersen (Denmark); Liam Fleming (Australia); Oskar Gustafsson (Sweden); Susan Halls (United Kingdom); Gjertrud Hals (Norway); Chia-Chen Hsieh (Taiwan Region); Adelene Koh (Singapore); Maria Koshenkova (Denmark); Jong In Lee (Republic of Korea); Somyeong Lee (Republic of Korea); Misako Nakahira (Japan); Fadekemi Ogunsanya (Nigeria); Jieun Park (Republic of Korea); Jongjin Park (Republic of Korea); Rafael Pérez Fernández (Spain); Dorothea Prühl (Germany); Kirstie Rea (Australia); Vivi Rosa (Brazil); Hervé Sabin (Haiti); Xanthe Somers (Zimbabwe); Coco Sung (Republic of Korea); Nobuyuki Tanaka (Japan); Graziano Visintin (Italy); Rayah Wauters (Belgium); Nan Wei (China); Jane Yang-D’Haene (United States of America); and Ayano Yoshizumi (Japan).
Cultural traditions anchor many of the works. Practices drawn from basketry, textile production, dyeing and architectural construction enter contemporary contexts through scale, collaboration and experimentation. The jury prioritised technical accomplishment, skill, innovation and artistic vision in its deliberations, identifying artists who expand inherited knowledge while pushing formal boundaries.
Sheila Loewe, President of the Loewe Foundation, described the shortlist as evidence of contemporary craft’s diversity and ambition. She emphasised how deeply rooted traditions can be reinterpreted through innovation and imagination, noting that the exhibition’s presentation in Singapore reinforces the global dialogue central to the Prize. The National Gallery Singapore, home to the largest public collection of Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art, provides a context that situates the finalists within a broader international discourse.
Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, Executive Secretary of the Expert Panel, framed the ninth edition as a reflection of craft’s expanded field. The selected works demonstrate how making now moves fluidly between art and applied practice, combining cultural perspectives with technological and pre-technological knowledge. This edition also marks the first time Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, creative directors of Loewe, join the jury. They will collaborate with figures from design, architecture, journalism, criticism and museum curatorship to select the recipient of the €50,000 award and two €5,000 special mentions.
The Prize, launched in 2016 as a tribute to Loewe’s origins as a craft workshop founded in 1846, continues to assert the cultural relevance of material practice. Previous exhibitions have taken place at venues including the Design Museum in London, the Sogetsu Kaikan in Tokyo, the Noguchi Museum in New York, Palais de Tokyo in Paris and the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid.
In parallel, the Loewe Foundation has announced a new initiative in partnership with Belmond, establishing three two-month residencies at La Residencia in Deià, Mallorca. The programme will support alumni of the Craft Prize, offering selected artists the opportunity to develop new work within Spain’s cultural landscape.
The 2026 finalists represent 19 countries and regions, from Baba Tree Master Weavers × Álvaro Catalán de Ocón (Spain) to Ayano Yoshizumi (Japan). Together, they present a collective portrait of contemporary craft as rigorous, experimental and globally interconnected.
