The Nordic Network of Crafts Associations (NNCA), representing seven craft organisations across the Nordic region, has proposed the creation of a Nordic Council Craft Prize. The prize would increase the visibility of Nordic contemporary crafts, celebrate cultural and artistic diversity, and showcase artists and makers’ contributions to society.

The NNCA has long been involved in advocating for the Nordic craft sector, through political work, joint projects, and a Position Paper, outlining eight key proposals which would strengthen the position of contemporary crafts in the region. One proposal is for the Nordic Council of Ministers to establish a new Nordic Council Prize for crafts. 

The Nordic Council already awards five annual prizes: the Literature Prize, the Children and Young People’s Literature Prize, the Music Prize, the Film Prize, and the Environment Prize. The prizes consist of a DKK 300,000 award and statuette and are awarded in conjunction with the Nordic Council’s annual Session in the late autumn. The oldest award, the Literature Prize, was established in 1962, the newest,  the Children and Young People’s Literature Prize, in 2013. 

A Nordic Council Craft Prize would provide a crucial platform to promote Nordic contemporary crafts, raise awareness of the sector, and celebrate the makers’ contributions to society. This prize would increase the visibility of the field, both regionally and internationally, and highlight the importance of crafts in the development of a sustainable and equitable future.  

While the countries in the Nordic region share many similarities in their craft traditions, there are also significant regional differences that enrich the field as a whole. A dedicated craft prize would provide an opportunity to celebrate this diversity while fostering greater collaboration between the Nordic countries.

The NNCA’s proposal for a Nordic Council Craft Prize has already been discussed at two Nordic Council meetings, in the Committee for Knowledge and Culture, on 6 February 2024 in Stockholm, and on 25 Februrary 2025 in Copenhagen. The NNCA’s input has resulted in a proposal by the Nordic Council’s Social Democrat Group for a new Nordic Council Prize for fine art and contemporary crafts, detailed in the Danish newspaper Kulturmonitor (23 April 2025). 

The NNCA’s proposal for a Nordic Council Craft Prize will be discussed by the Nordic Council Presidium in June 2025. The proposal stresses the importance of contemporary crafts having an equal presence to fine art in a potential Nordic Council Visual Art Prize, and that the Nordic Council should take measures to ensure that the diversity of the Nordic crafts field is included in the award statutes: a visual art prize must not exclude the crafts of underrepresented groups, Nordic minorities or Indigenous peoples, and members from the diverse crafts field must be represented in both the national and Nordic adjudication committees.

You can download and read the full proposal by the NNCA here.

Header image: Pekka Paikkari exhibited at Galleri F15, 'Earth, Wind, Fire, Water' in 2020. Photo by Vegard Kleven.