LOEWE FOUNDATION has announced the finalists for the 2026 edition of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize. This year’s finalists were chosen by a panel of experts from more than 5,100 submissions by artists representing 133 countries and regions. The 30 finalists, representing 19 countries and regions, work across a range of media, including ceramics, woodwork, textiles, furniture, bookbinding, glass, metal, jewelry, and lacquer. From Japan, three finalists have been selected: Misako Nakahira, based in Kyoto, whose practice centers on stripe motifs reinterpreted through tapestry; Nobuyuki Tanaka, based in Kanazawa, who has developed his artistic practice around re-examining lacquer from a contemporary perspective; Ayano Yoshizumi, based in Toyama, whose glass works are inspired by Fauvism and the Japanese concept “Ma.”

The selection was made based on technical accomplishment, craftsmanship, innovation, and artistic vision. Many of the works on this year’s shortlist demonstrate a diligent engagement with the natural world, both in their choice of materials and processes. Cultural traditions also serve as important points of reference, while practices drawn from basketry, textiles, dyeing and architectural making have been reinterpreted within contemporary contexts, scales, and collaborative approaches.

This edition marks the first time that Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, creative directors of LOEWE, will join the jury alongside leading figures from the fields of design, architecture, journalism, criticism, and museum curatorship. From Japan, last year’s LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2025 winner, Kunimasa Aoki will serve on the jury, together with Naoto Fukasawa, designer and director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum in Tokyo. The winner will be announced on May 12, 2026, and will receive a prize of 50,000 Euros, while the special mentions will each receive 5,000 Euros. The exhibition of the finalists will be held from May 13 to June 14, 2026, at the National Gallery Singapore, home to the world’s largest public collection of Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art.

◾️The selected finalists for the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2026

Baba Tree Master Weavers × Álvaro Catalán de Ocón (Spain)
Jobe Burns (United Kingdom)
Soohyun Chou (Republic of Korea)
Morten Løbner Espersen (Denmark)
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)
Ayano Yoshizumi (Japan)

◾️General information

LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2026
Exhibition dates: May 13 to June 14, 2026
Venue: National Gallery Singapore (1 St Andrew’s Road, Singapore 178957)
Website: https://craftprize.loewe.com/ja/craftprize2026