Master Craftsman Award boosts Swiss arts scene

The Swiss Association of Arts and Crafts wants to show its support for craftsmen and women working in Switzerland with a new type of prize.

The first Master Craftsman Award, worth CHF10,000 ($10,070), goes to François Junod, portrayed in the video above, who has developed the automaton into a new art form. The prize was established to honour an “outstanding craftswoman/craftsman for his/her complete oeuvre and his/her artistic charisma” in Switzerland and abroad. 

Junod, from Sainte-Croix in western Switzerland, calls his unique creations androids: mechanical robots designed to resemble humans in both appearance and behaviour. 

The second category – the Arts & Crafts & Design award – honours the cooperation between craftsmen and designers. The first prize is worth CHF10,000 for the design and CHF10,000 for the construction of the object. The first Arts & Crafts & Design award goes to Peter Fink, who makes ceramics in Ependes, also in western Switzerland, and Geneva-based designer Josefina Munoz.

In the category “Young talent in arts and crafts” there are three prizes. The applicants have to be younger than 35. More than CHF17,000 was raised through crowdfunding for this. The first prize, worth CHF10,000, goes to Lucas Bessard from L’Isle in western Switzerland, who builds wooden skis.

Lausanne-based Bertille Laguet, a blacksmith, took the second prize. No prize money is given for second and third place.

Marc Schweizer from Zweisimmen in western Switzerland scooped the third prize with his paper cut designs.

The awards ceremony is on Friday at the artgenève exhibition at Palexpo in Geneva.