Loewe Craft Prize crowns Jongjin Park’s Strata of Illusion in Singapore
Jongjin Park’s paper-and-porcelain seat won Loewe’s Craft Prize in Singapore, signaling a house still betting on radical handwork, not safe luxury polish.
A partially collapsed ceramic seat built from thousands of layers of paper, coated in porcelain slip and fired until the paper burned away, won Loewe’s 2026 Craft Prize and set the tone for where the house wants to go next. Jongjin Park’s Strata of Illusion looks fragile, then stubborn, then almost archaeological, the kind of object that makes craft feel less like decoration and more like proof of intelligence.
The prize was announced on May 12 at the National Gallery Singapore, with Park receiving €50,000 for the 2025 work. This year’s edition was the ninth Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, and the numbers behind it were no small thing: 30 finalists were pulled from 5,100 submissions spanning 133 countries and regions. Their works went on view at the National Gallery Singapore from May 13 through June 14, turning the museum into a live argument for why craft still matters when fashion is being dragged toward speed, logo noise, and algorithmic sameness.
What makes this edition feel especially loaded is that it is the first under new creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. Their presence on the jury for the first time matters because Loewe is not treating craft as a museum-friendly side project; it is using the prize to show that the brand’s next era still wants the authority that comes from technique, material risk, and weirdness with discipline. Park’s winning piece does exactly that. It is rooted in labor so meticulous it almost disappears into the final form, which is exactly the kind of craft logic that keeps Loewe credible with purists while still giving the brand a future-facing edge.
The special mentions sharpened that message. Italian jewelry artist Graziano Visintin was recognized for Collier, a 2025 piece, and Baba Tree Master Weavers, working with Spanish designer Álvaro Catalán de Ocón, were honored for Frafra Tapestry, a 2024 work made with Mary Anaba, Charity Aveamah Atuah, Christiana Anaba Akolpoka, Asakiloro Aduko, Mary Ayinbogra, Teni Ayine, Subolo Ayine, and Punka Joe. Each special mention received €5,000, but the real prize is symbolic: Loewe is elevating objects that carry regional memory, collective skill, and material specificity, not just expensive finish.
Sheila Loewe said the shortlisted works showed how rooted traditions can be reimagined through innovation, skill, and imagination, and that is the clearest read on the selection. The house is not abandoning heritage. It is choosing heritage that can move, mutate, and survive contact with contemporary design culture.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
