Judges

Ceramics Design Category

Kiriyama Toshiki

Japan

Director of Toyama Prefectural Design Center,Deputy Director of Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art & Design,Founder of TRUNK LTD.,Design Director

Area of Expertise : Design Director and Producer, Curation

Born in Nagano Prefecture in 1952. After working as a researcher in technology development, and as an editor in advertising marketing, design, and architecture, he established TRUNK LTD. in 1988, a design planning and production company. He has been involved in producing exhibitions both domestically and internationally, and in launching the design information site/web magazine “Japan Design Net (JDN)”. Since 1993, he has been active in establishing the Toyama Prefectural Design Center. Based in Tokyo, Toyama, and Milan, he works in direction, brand production, and exhibition curation.
Sakai Motoki

Japan

Executive Director, Japan Ceramic Society (Public Interest Foundation),Editor-in-Chief, “Tosetsu”

Area of Expertise : Social history of Crafts / Material history

Born in Gifu Prefecture in 1967. After serving as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of “Quarterly Tojiro” (a comprehensive ceramics magazine) and Editor-in-Chief of “Tsukuru Tojiro”, he established the Sakai Editorial Planning Office in 2009, where he planned and edit books, catalogs, and websites related to crafts, design, and materials. Since 2016, he has served as a standing director of The Creation of Japan General Incorporated Association. Since 2019, he has been the secretary general of The Japan Ceramic Society, a public interest incorporated association, and currently edits the journal “Tosetsu.”
Sütő Erika

Hungary

Porcelain designer, jewelry designer, and design manager, Manager of the International Ceramics Studio, Kecskemét, Hungary

Area of Expertise : Porcelain and jewelry design

She graduated from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest with a degree in Silicate Design in 2008 and in Art and Design Management in 2009, and earned a qualification in Silversmithing in 2019 from the Secondary School of Visual Arts. She began her career at the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemét, where she managed the contemporary ceramics collection, later directed its Budapest exhibition space, the Museion No.1 Gallery, and currently serves as the Studio’s Manager. In 2014, she and her husband founded a creative enterprise that provides design and production services and develops its own product lines. At the invitation of the Hollóháza Porcelain Manufactory, she has designed several porcelain jewelry and tableware collections. Her work has been recognized with the Hungarian Product Grand Prize (2017) and the Hungarian Design Award (2019). From 2020 to 2023, she was a scholar of the Hungarian Academy of Arts.
Shomura Misato

Japan

Curator, Former Deputy Director of the Curatorial Department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu

Area of Expertise : Art / Craft Critics

As a curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, she engages in the collection, research and organization of exhibitions focusing on crafts – including modern and contemporary ceramics– as well as contemporary art. Involved in the International Ceramics Exhibition Mino for many years. From 2014 to 2016, chief curator of the curatorial department at Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu. Served as a deputy director of the curatorial department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu from 2016 to March 2026.

Major exhibitions:“Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of 16th Century Japan”at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y. (2003), “ITO KEIJI: Getting My Measure” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu (2011), “Resonance of Traditional Color: Traditional East Asian Ceramic Art” at Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum, Korea (2015), “Beyond the Material” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu (2021)
Cho Hyeyoung

Republic of Korea

Chairperson of the Korea Association of Art and Design, Loewe Foundation Craft Prize Expert Panel (jury member since 2020), Independent Art Director-Curator

Area of Expertise : Contemporary Crafts

International recognized independent curator personifying the practice of radical sharing. She works for acclaimed museums and organizations. Began as a studio artist, working her way up to curator, artistic director, and an administrator. Served as Secretary General for KCDF. Committed to importing cultural assets. Worked as International Commissioner in the GICB 2013; as Art Director for the Cheongju Craft Biennale 2015; Guest Curator of the 130 Years of Korea-France Relations at V&A 2016-2018 and more. Graduated from University of the West of England, Bristol. Received her master’s degree in Ewha Women’s University.

Ceramics Arts Category

Ishizaki Yasuyuki

Japan

Director of the Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu

Area of Expertise : Area of Expertise: History of Ceramics, Theory of Ceramics and Ceramic Art

Born in Matsuyama City, Mie Prefecture in 1960. After graduating from the University of Tsukuba in 1983 with a major in art history, he worked as a teacher at metropolitan high schools of Tokyo for 12 years. From 1995, engaged in preparations for the opening of Hagi Uragami Museum as an expert curator of Yamaguchi. Transferred to the museum the next year, and was in charge of oriental ceramics and educational dissemination. In 2002, expanded his research to include Hagi ware, Japanese tea ceremony ceramics, and modern and contemporary ceramics. Retired in 2021 and took his current position
Ikemura Leiko

Germany/Switzerland

Contemporary artist　(Painting/Sculpture)

Area of Expertise : Area of Expertise: Contemporary Art (Painting, Sculpture and Drawing)

Born in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture, Japan, and currently lives and works in Cologne and Berlin, Germany.
She studied Spanish at Osaka University of Foreign Studies (now the School of Foreign Studies, The University of Osaka), and graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Seville in Spain. From 1979 to 1983, she lived in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1983, she received a scholarship from Faber-Castell and the city of Nuremberg, which led her to stay in Nuremberg, Germany. In 1985, she moved to Cologne, and since 1996 she has been based in Berlin. From 1991 to 2015, she served as a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts. Since 2014, she has also been a professor at Joshibi University of Art and Design in Japan. Recent major solo exhibitions include:2019 “Our Planet: Earth & Stars” (The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan), 2022 “More Light!” (Asian Art Museum, Germany), 2025 ”Mother Scape” (ALBERTINA, Austria), Sao Paulo Art Biennial (Pavilhao Ciccillo Matarazzo), 2026 Bangkok Art Biennale (Vietnam), International Art Exhibition TOKYO ATLAS (Tokyo).
She has received the Cologne Art Prize in 2014, and the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize in 2019. Selected as a Person of Cultural Merit for 2025 by Japanese government.
Inoue Masayuki

Japan

Ceramist/Professor emeritus, Tama Art University

Area of Expertise : Ceramic Art

Born in Kobe City in 1957. Completed the Master’s Program at Tama Art University Graduate School in 1985. Appointed Professor in the Department of Ceramic, Glass and Metal Works, Faculty of Art and Design, Tama Art University in 2006 (currently Professor Emeritus). Since the 1980s, he has created large-scale sculptures using ceramic materials, gaining attention as a contemporary ceramic artist. His works have been exhibited in domestic and international exhibitions and numerous museums hold his works in their collections. He continues to exhibit actively, including winning the Grand Prize at the 24th Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition in 2017. “INOUE Masayuki, Molding a form like drawing” at Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum (2022), “Inoue Masayuki: Commemoration of Tama Art University Retirement” at Galerie Tokyo Humanité (2022), “Craft Arts: Innovation of ‘Tradition and Avant-Garde,’ and the Present Day” at Crafts Gallery, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (2016), “Inoue Masayuki: Prototype Form—Flower Shape” at Hagi Uragami Museum (2015), “Ars Nova: Between The Contemporary Avant-garde Art and The Crafts” at Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (2005), “Japanese Studio Crafts: Tradition and the Avant-Garde” at Victoria and Albert Museum, London (1995).
Oriol Calvo Vergés

Spain

Curator/President of the International Academy of Ceramics

Area of Expertise : Ceramic art & Craft, Cultural heritage/Museum management

Director of the Ceramics Museum of Argentona (Barcelona, Spain) until November 2025 and Managing Director of the European Grouping of Cities of Ceramics. In 1987, he founded the Ceramics School in Argentona and served as Director of the International Ceramics Festival “Argillà Argentona,”. He also collaborates with the Catalan Association of Ceramists, based in Barcelona. He is a founding member of the Association of Ceramology of Spain and Portugal (1989) and of the Spanish Association of Cities of Ceramics (2007). He has delivered lectures and authored papers on a wide range of topics related to ceramics and crafts, and has served as a jury member in several international competitions, as well as curated numerous ceramics exhibitions throughout his extensive professional career. After eight years serving as Treasurer and representative of the Southern European countries, he became President of the International Academy of Ceramics (IAC) in 2024.
Kawakita Yuko

Japan

Curator, Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art

Area of Expertise : Aesthetics, Modern and Contemporary Crafts and Ceramics

Born in Tokyo. Completed master’s degree in Aesthetics at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, the University of Tokyo. Served as a curator at the Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art from 2013 to 2021. Since 2021, she has been a curator at the Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art. Curates exhibitions in the fields of crafts and design. Major exhibitions include “Vessels: The Spirit of Modern British Ceramics” in 2014-15, “Clay and Abstraction: When Memories Become Form” in 2019-20, “Kamoda Shoji: Gravity and Flight” in 2021, “Poul Kjærholm: Timeless Minimalism” in 2024, and “Picturesque Pottery: Ceramics Enjoying Art from Mingei to the Present” in 2025. Her research interests include the establishment and development of studio ceramics, various aspects of ceramic expression in the modern and contemporary eras, and the relationship between memory, materials, and expression.