The 2026 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize Winner Defies Definition

The winner of this year’s Loewe Craft Prize, Jongjin Park, has many skills. The South Korean artist could most simply be described as a ceramicist—but to stand out among the 29 finalists vying for the international award, which lauds innovation in modern craftsmanship, Park employed a range of craft traditions. As a result, the assistant professor at Seoul Women’s University—who holds an MFA, BFA, and PhD in ceramics from Kookmin University—received the coveted Loewe Craft Prize for 2026 in Singapore on Tuesday. The finalists were selected from over 5,100 submissions by artists representing 133 countries and regions, all of whom work across a number of mediums like woodwork, furniture, bookbinding, glass, and jewelry. Park’s work, Strata of Illusion, 2025, won over the jury due to its exploration of tension between control and collapse. The chair-like statue is hardly what one pictures when they consider traditional ceramics; Strata is constructed from thousands of layered sheets of paper, coated in porcelain slip. When placed in the kiln, the paper burns away and gravity takes over, distorting the work and causing the center to nearly collapse.

The Prize’s jury—which consists of leading figures from the worlds of design, architecture, and criticism, alongside Loewe creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez—chose Srata as its winner because of the piece’s ability to confound the expectations surrounding the art of ceramic-making. Park’s use of air to establish form and layering of paper evokes the practices of glassblowing and bookbinding. Strata’s resistance against using one singular material evoked the central meaning of the Prize, according to the jury.

Alongside Park, special mentions were given to the Baba Tree Master Weavers and Álvaro Catalán de Ocón, as well as Graziano Visintin. Spanish designer Catalán worked with the Master Weavers collective—composed of Mary Anaba, Charity Aveamah Atuah, Christiana Anaba Akolpoka, Asakiloro Aduko, Mary Ayinbogra, Teni Ayine, Subolo Ayine, and Punka Joe—which presented Frafra Tapestry, a large-scale, communally woven tapestry based on aerial photography of a traditional village in Ghana’s Gurunsi region. Visintin, meanwhile, was recognized for his work, Collier: two necklaces composed of tiny cubes of gold and niello.

“It has been a privilege to join the jury of the Loewe Foundation,” said McCollough and Hernandez. “Craft has been at the heart of Loewe since the house was founded 180 years ago. Across each of the shortlisted works, we encountered an extraordinary sense of commitment, creativity, and innovation. Together, they stand as a powerful testament to the enduring possibilities of making.”

The Loewe Craft Prize was founded in 2016 by the Loewe Foundation and then–creative director Jonathan Anderson as a way to showcase and celebrate innovation, excellence, and artistry in contemporary craft. This year, the winner was awarded €50,000, and each special mention received €5,000. All 30 shortlisted works will be exhibited at the National Gallery Singapore from May 13 until June 14; they can also be viewed virtually via the Loewe Foundation’s digital platform, The Room.