The LOEWE FOUNDATION has announced the winner and special mentions of the 2026 LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize, one of the most important awards in contemporary craft. Every year, the prize recognizes artists and makers from around the world who bring innovation and artistic value to traditional craftsmanship.

This year, the main prize was awarded to Jongjin Park from South Korea for his piece Strata of Illusion (2025). His work was selected from 30 finalists by a jury made up of important names from the worlds of design, architecture, and museums, including Frida Escobedo, Patricia Urquiola, and LOEWE’s creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez.

Strata of Illusion is a sculpture that looks like a seat, but it also feels like something much deeper. It is made from thousands of layers of paper covered in colored porcelain slip. During the firing process in the kiln, the paper burns away, and the piece changes shape because of heat and gravity. This creates a final form that feels imperfect but very intentional, showing the balance between control and collapse.

The jury also gave two special mentions.

The first one was for Frafra Tapestry (2024), created by the Baba Tree Master Weavers with Spanish designer Álvaro Catalán de Ocón. The tapestry is based on aerial photographs of a traditional village in Ghana and was made using natural and dyed elephant grass with traditional weaving techniques. What makes this work special is how it combines modern technology with ancestral knowledge, while also preserving the memory of a way of life that is slowly disappearing.

The second special mention went to Italian artist Graziano Visintin for Collier (2025), two necklaces made from very small gold cubes decorated using niello, an ancient metalworking technique. The jury admired how he turned such a traditional process into something contemporary and elegant, making each small piece look almost like a tiny painting.

The LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize was created in 2016 and was inspired by LOEWE’s beginnings as a craft workshop in 1846. More than just a fashion house, LOEWE continues to support the idea that craftsmanship is an important part of culture and creativity.

This year’s winners show that craft is not only about tradition, but also about reinvention, memory, and new ways of telling stories through art.