Kunimasa Aoki wins 2025 LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize

The LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2025 has been awarded to Japanese artist Kunimasa Aoki for his work ‘Realm of Living Things 19’ (2024). His amorphic terracotta sculpture was lauded for its poetic and innovative exploration of the properties of clay.

Chosen from among 30 finalists, Kunimasa Aoki convinced the panel of experts, including architect Patricia Urquiola, the director of the Musée des Arts décoratifs Olivier Gabet, and ceramicist Magdalene Odundo, with his tenacious use of the ancestral coil process to present the material in its raw, honest, and unfinished form.  

The 2025 edition of the prize showcases works that innovatively transpose ancient craft techniques to new materials, such as basketry to clay, or loom weaving to metal, as well as reinterpretations of traditional motifs to reflect contemporary directions. The works celebrate ritual gestures and the passing-on of traditions and knowledge over generations, giving a voice to resolutely singular artistic approaches, at times conjuring up a sense of the whimsical, and expressing the raw emotion of handmade craft at others.  

The jury also awarded two special mentions to Nifemi Marcus-Bello (Nigeria) for his work ‘TM Bench with Bowl’ (2023), a sculpture made of reclaimed aluminum, and to Studio Sumakshi Singh (India) for their work ‘Monument’ (2024), a life-size reimagining of a column from a 12th-century colonnade in Delhi, created by using copper zari. 

The works of all 30 finalists are on display at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid until June 29, 2025, and are also available to view online at theroom.loewe.com.