Call for Applications: Loewe Craft Prize
Category
Deadline
Loewe has launched a new award celebrating excellence in craftsmanship, the Loewe Craft Prize. Sponsored by the Loewe Foundation, the Craft Prize expands the commitment of the Spanish house to preserving unique savoir-faire.
The Loewe Craft Prize aims to recognize the values that bridge craftsmanship and contemporary culture in every discipline. The prize will be given to outstanding works of craftsmanship that pair an original artistic concept with a modern application of traditional methods. The prize also pays tribute to precise execution, respect for materials and the functional and aesthetic value of the work.
“Craftsmanship has immense importance for me and is an immense source of inspiration. That’s why I wanted to create a platform to highlight what has been done by hand by potters, basket weavers, furniture designers, jewelers and other professionals who work quietly and are often underestimated. In fact, there is nothing more difficult than finding a way to create an object that has its own formula and is expressed in the same language of its creator, creating a dialogue that previously did not exist.” notes Jonathan Anderson, Creative Director of Loewe.
For the first edition of the Craft Prize a jury of prominent experts from the worlds of design, architecture, industry, journalism, art criticism and museum curatorship will select the winning work from among submissions by 14 finalists. Their creations will be featured in an exhibition that will open in Madrid in May 2017 before traveling around the world. The winner of the Loewe Craft Prize 2017 will be awarded 50,000 euros.
Key Dates:
- Open for entry to submit work: 12 April – 7 November 2016
- Shortlist of finalists announced: February 2017
- Winner announced: April 2017
- Exhibition of finalist and winning works in Madrid: May 2017
About the Craft Prize
In 2016 the LOEWE FOUNDATION launches the LOEWE Craft Prize, an annual international prize recognising an outstanding work of craftsmanship that pairs an original artistic concept with a modern application of traditional methods. The award seeks to acknowledge and support international artisans of any age (over 18) or gender who demonstrate an exceptional ability to create objects of superior aesthetic value. By identifying work that reinterprets existing knowledge to make it relevant today while reflecting its maker’s personal language and distinct hand, the LOEWE FOUNDATION aims to highlight the continuing contribution of craft to the culture of our time.
All entries should
- fall within an area of applied arts, such as ceramics, bookbinding, enamelwork, jewellery, lacquer, metal, furniture, leather, textiles, glass, etc.
- be an original work, handmade or partly handmade
- have been created in the last decade
- be one-of a-kind
- have won no prizes previously
- demonstrate artistic intent.
The Prize for the winning entry is 50,000 euros. The winning work selected by the Jury, as well as the works of the finalists selected by the Experts Panel will be included in an exhibition and accompanying catalogue “LOEWE Craft Prize 2017”, on view in Madrid and subsequently travelling to other cities in Europe, Asia and the United States.
About the Loewe Foundation
The Loewe Foundation was established as a private cultural Foundation in 1988 by Enrique Loewe Lynch, a fourth-generation member of LOEWE’s founding family. Today, under the direction of his daughter Sheila Loewe, the Foundation continues to promote creativity, support educational programmes and safeguard heritage in the fields of poetry, dance, design and craft, photography, and architecture. The Foundation was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts, the highest honour granted by the Spanish Government, in 2002.
One of the primary purposes for which the Loewe Foundation was established was to support design and craftsmanship.
To apply
Read the Rules of Entry and make sure you comply with all requirements. All participants must be professional artisans 18 years or older. Entries may be made by an individual or collective (as a ‘team submission’). All nationalities are welcome.
Make sure the work
- demonstrates artistic intent in addition to technical proficiency
- is an original piece, handmade or partly handmade
- is recently created (in the last decade), and one-of-a-kind, and has not won any prizes previously
- is innovative, in the sense that it updates tradition
- falls within an area of the applied arts, such as ceramics, bookbinding, enamelwork, jewellery, lacquer, metal, furniture, leather, textiles, glass, etc.
- Complete the online registration in English
- You need 2 to 5 photographs of the work and optionally a video.
- Write a brief conceptual statement about the work.
Deadline: 7 November 2016.
