The Lovie Awards recognise the unique and resonant nature of the European internet community—from Europeʼs top digital and creative agencies and content publishers to cultural and political organisations and individual creators. Prizes are awarded in eight categories, and this year new 'Beyond' categories were introduced, recognising outstanding European digital projects with the potential to positively impact global society.
In 2023, the Lovie Awards received 1,200 entries from 30 European countries, and we are delighted that from this breadth of entries, the CRAFTED project received a People’s Lovie Award in the Beyond Category - Art, Design & Heritage! Not only did CRAFTED receive the public vote, the jury of expert members also recognised the project with a Bronze Lovie Award. The win was announced live at an awards ceremony in London in the evening of 9 November.
The CRAFTED project was shortlisted for the Art, Design and Heritage category together with the wonderful new digital Van Gogh Catalogues.
CRAFTED was an innovative project which promoted Europe’s rich crafts heritage and celebrated the artisans and crafters who create heritage by shaping and remaking culture through the ages.
Telling the stories of crafts through online blogs, galleries, exhibitions and videos, CRAFTED highlighted a diverse range of crafts heritage, from pottery to lace making, analogue photography to glassblowing, weaving to jewellery making and more. 60 editorial pieces, more than 30 videos and an educational manual on these topics were created and made available through the Making Culture page on the Europeana website, which also provides access to 170,000 digitised crafts heritage items from 28 cultural heritage institutions in seven European countries.
The page offers online audiences across Europe a single access point into the richness of crafts heritage. There were many varied activities which led to its creation, from workshops to support cultural heritage professionals to work with crafts heritage, to innovation in infrastructure, new technologies and data enrichment - all of which is recognised by the award.
Nicolas Roope, co-founder of the Lovie Awards, says, ‘CRAFTED has excelled in its category, showing fantastic prowess in digital innovation and creativity. This award is a testament to the skill, ingenuity and vision of its creators.’
Eirini Kaldeli from NTUA, project Coordinator for CRAFTED, says ‘We feel the award recognises the innovative approach to digital storytelling we took to share stories of Europe’s crafting heritage and engage new audiences with them online. The win also acknowledges and reflects the hard work and collaboration from cultural heritage institutions and project partners to make crafts heritage more accessible to our audiences.’
The CRAFTED project was a Europeana Generic Services project, co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union. It was led by the National Technical University of Athens, with 14 project partners in total. It ran from 1 September 2021 to 30 June 2023.