Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, who came on board as creative directors of Loewe last year, will be doing their first jury duty of 2026 — for the ninth edition of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize.

On Monday, the foundation revealed the 30 finalists vying for the main prize of 50,000 euros, which will be announced on May 12, plus two “special mentions” that merit 5,000 euros.

All the works by the finalists, who hail from 19 countries and regions, will be on display at the National Gallery Singapore from May 13 until June 14.

Six hail from South Korea, suggesting K-craft might be the next cultural export for the nation that spawned K-pop, K-beauty and K-dramas.

The Loewe Foundation received more than 5,100 submissions, which were whittled down by an expert committee to the 30 finalists, who work in such media as ceramics, wood, textiles, furniture, bookbinding, glass, metal, jewelry and lacquer.

Submissions range from rugged wooden benches and crumpled hunks of glass to a hand-embroidered and beaded quilt.

According to Sheila Loewe, president of the Loewe Foundation, the short-listed works “demonstrate how deeply rooted traditions can be reimagined through innovation, skill and imagination.”

The expert panel, which includes artists, curators and previous craft-prize contenders, “sought to identify the most outstanding works in terms of technical accomplishment, skill, innovation and artistic vision,” Loewe said.

“The selection highlights how craft today moves fluidly between art and making, combining cultural perspectives, technological and pre-technological knowledge, and diverse approaches to material and form,” said Spanish art historian and journalist Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, who is executive secretary of the expert panel that came up with the short list.

She added that the 2026 finalists reflect “a broad and nuanced understanding of contemporary
craft, bringing together works that expand tradition through risk, skill and imagination.”

The finalists are: Baba Tree Master Weavers × Álvaro Catalán de Ocón from Spain; Jobe Burns, U.K.; Soohyun Chou, South Korea; Morten Løbner Espersen, Denmark; Liam Fleming, Australia; Oskar Gustafsson, Sweden; Susan Halls, U.K.; Gjertrud Hals, Norway; Chia-Chen Hsieh, Taiwan; Adelene Koh, Singapore; Maria Koshenkova, Denmark; Jong In Lee, South Korea; Somyeong Lee, South Korea; Misako Nakahira, Japan; Fadekemi Ogunsanya, Nigeria; Jieun Park, South Korea; Jongjin Park, South Korea; Rafael Pérez Fernández, Spain; Dorothea Prühl, Germany; Kirstie Rea, Australia; Vivi Rosa, Brazil; Hervé Sabin, Haiti; Xanthe Somers, Zimbabwe; Coco Sung, South Korea; Nobuyuki Tanaka, Japan; Graziano Visintin, Italy; Rayah Wauters, Belgium; Nan Wei, China; Jane Yang-D’Haene, USA, and Ayano Yoshizumi, Japan.

The brainchild of the Spanish luxury house’s previous creative director Jonathan Anderson, Loewe’s annual craft prize and exhibition moves about the world, and has also been held in Madrid, Tokyo, Seoul, London and New York City.

McCollough and Hernandez headline a 14-member jury, whose participants include architects Minsuk Cho, Patricia Urquiola and Wang Shu; potter Magdalene Odundo; writer Deyan Sudjic; Metropolitan Museum curator Abraham Thomas, and Olivier Gabet, director of the Louvre’s art department.

The Loewe Foundation is also creating three two-month residencies in partnership with Belmond, the hospitality group which, like Loewe, is controlled by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

These will take place at La Residencia, a Belmond hotel in Mallorca, offering “selected artists the opportunity to create new artwork in dialogue with Spain’s cultural landscape — the country where Loewe was founded in 1846,” according to the brand.