Ozioma Onuzulike, ceramics artist, poet and professor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, has been announced as one of 30 artists shortlisted for the seventh edition of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize. Each finalist’s work will be exhibited at Palais de Tokyo in Paris from 15 May until 9 June 2024.
The annual Craft Prize was launched by the LOEWE FOUNDATION in 2016 and conceived by LOEWE creative director @Jonathan.Anderson to celebrate excellence, artistic merit, and innovation in modern craftsmanship.
This year’s finalists were chosen by a panel of experts from over 3,900 submissions by artisans representing 124 countries and regions. The finalists, representing 16 countries and regions, work across a range of mediums including ceramics, woodwork, textiles, furniture, paper, basketry, glass, metal, jewellery, lacquer, and leather.
Born 1972 in Achi, Enugu State, Nigeria, Ozioma Onuzulike graduated First Class in Fine and Applied Arts and holds an MFA degree in ceramic art and a PhD in Art History from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he is a Professor and current Director of the Institute of African Studies. His recent international exhibitions include _Ozioma Onuzulike: Recent Works_ at Marc Straus Gallery in New York; _Free The Wind, The Spirit, and The Sun_ at Stephen Friedman Gallery in London, and _Ozioma Onuzulike: When Hearts Beat with Lofty Dreams_ at the Afrikaris in Paris. In 2023, Kó Gallery, Lagos presented his work at EXPO Chicago, 1-54 New York, and Art X Lagos. Onuzulike’s works are in permanent collections worldwide, including the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art, Lagos; the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge University; Princeton University Museum, Princeton; the Hudson Valley Museum of Contemporary Art, Hudson; the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; Die Neue Sammlung, Munich; North Dakota Museum of Art, North Dakota; Museo Ettore Fico, Turin; the Fondation Thalie, Brussels and the Donnersberg Collection, France.
His works can be found on Instagram @ozioma.onuzulike