For Immediate Release
London, United Kingdom — March 2026
The British Cræft Prize, a new £60,000 national award launched in London on 12 March 2026. The Prize seeks ingenious ideas that combine Britain’s heritage craft wisdom with advanced technology to forge a dynamic and rooted new vision for the country.
Open to maverick and misfit makers, technologists, designers, and engineers, the Prize seeks inventions that fuse the deep wisdom of heritage crafts of the past with cutting-edge technologies of the future.
Six finalists will each receive £5,000 production grants to develop a working product. One overall winner will receive an additional £30,000 to spin out their invention. All finalists will be profiled through editorial, film, and an exhibition.
The British Cræft Prize was founded by Louis Elton in response to the identity and innovation crisis facing Britain. It seeks to reintegrate Britain’s craft and creative sectors with its innovation economy.
Louis Elton, founder of Nation of Artisans and the British Cræft Prize, said:
“Britain once led the world by uniting craft and industry. We can do so again by embracing the spirit of cræft — the Anglo-Saxon idea of applying power and wisdom to forge excellent things. Aready, robots are reviving classical stonemasonry, origami shapes materials to make clothes that grow, and the arts of the past are sculpting AI ceramics. The prize asks: How else could heritage craft wisdom fuse with cutting-edge technology to build the future? How else could AI, robotics, and craftspeople can work together to build things that are beautiful, useful, and scalable.”
Submissions will be judged on ingenuity, cræft depth, beauty, usefulness and scalability, integrity, and contribution to future heritage.
The Prize is funded by Tyler Cowen at Emergent Ventures and Nation of Artisans, partnered with the Centre for British Progress, and supported by Heritage Crafts and Interlace Data.
Kanishka Narayan, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for AI and Online Safety, said:
"Last month, inspired by William Morris, I asked whether machines serve what is beautiful in the world, or replace it with dull mimicry. I’m delighted that the new £60,000 British Cræft Prize explores how cutting-edge technology can fuse with heritage craft to create inventions that are beautiful, useful and scalable."
Julia Willemyns, co-founder of the Centre for British Progress said:
“Pushing the frontier doesn't have to mean losing connection with our roots. My hope for the British Cræft Prize is that it inspires a new generation of builders who understand that craft and rootedness aren't opposites of progress.”
Further information is available at:
https://www.nationofartisans.com/prize https://nationofartisans.substack.com/p/introducing-the-british-crft-prize
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