Adelaide-based Aranda artist Alfred Lowe has taken out the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV)’s 2025 Rigg Design Prize for his ambitious ceramic vessels titled ‘You and me, us never part’.

Now in its tenth edition, the triennial prize is Australia’s highest national accolade for contemporary design bestowed by an Australian public gallery and seeks to profile a different field of design practice every three years.

This edition highlighted the achievements of Australian designers under the age of 35 working across ceramics, glass, furniture, woodwork, metalwork, textiles, lighting and contemporary jewellery. 

Rigg Design Prize 2025 finalists. Photo: Tim Carrafa.

The winner of the $40,000 award was announced on 18 September at the opening of the Rigg Design Prize exhibition, held at the NGV’s Ian Potter Centre in Melbourne CBD. All 35 participants debuted new and ambitious works, offering a compelling survey of some of the most accomplished young designers across Australia today.

The Prize Jury – composed of previous Rigg Design Prize winners, including jewellery designer Marian Hosking, industrial designer Adam Goodrum, interior designers Paul Hecker and Hamish Guthrie, and the NGV’s curator of contemporary design and architecture Simone LeAmon – unanimously selected You and me, us never part by Alfred Lowe as this year’s winner. 

The winning work by Alfred Lowe

The work comprises two large-scale figurative ceramics combining rigid and roughly textured clay with soft raffia adornments, exploring beauty, community and Country. The ceramics stand side by side, each over one metre tall, and speak to the contradictions of love and hate, pain and joy through the friction of these materials.

Portrait of Alfred Lowe with his work You and me, us never part, 2025 on display as part of the Rigg Design Prize 2025 at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia. Photo: Tim Carrafa.

“We, the jury, are inspired by the ambitious scale and emotional resonance of Alfred’s large, figurative ceramic vessels,” the jury said in a statement. “While grounded in ceramic traditions, Alfred’s work pushes decisively into contemporary territory – expressing his Aranda culture and identity in forms that enliven the storied history of design in this country. His work reminds us that design, at its most powerful, not only shapes material culture but also reawakens our connections to place and to people. We believe these works position Alfred’s practice as significant on a global stage. As an early-career practitioner, his work is inventive, accomplished and joyful, and signals a voice in contemporary Australian design with the power to contribute to international conversations on design and making in meaningful and enduring ways.”

Lowe told Australian Design Review that winning the prize has been a “thrilling experience”. 

“I came into this prize treating it as a learning opportunity, a chance for me to go through the process of designing and creating these large-scale works,” he said. “I was just excited about the honour of showing at the NGV alongside so many talented designers. 

“On a personal level, winning this prize has been such a joyful experience [and] getting to meet the other finalists has been the best part of the experience. Australia really has some of the most talented young designers in the world and I’m looking forward to seeing what they all do next.”

You and me, us never part 2025 raku clay, underglaze, raffia palm. Photo heyandy, courtesy the artist and APY Art Centre Collective.

Lowe said the prize gave him the opportunity to make these large-scale works and winning has shown me that there is a “market and an appetite”. 

“I’m looking forward to pushing this part of my practice even more and expanding into more ambitious forms,” he said.

Installation view of Rigg Design Prize 2025, on display 19 September 2025 to 1 February 2026 at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia. Photo: Madeleine Burke.

35 finalists under 35

Competing with Lowe for the coveted prize were:

Patrick Adeney (VIC, Furniture)

Kartika Laili Ahmad (WA, Lighting)

Ella Badu (VIC, Jewellery)

Walter Brooks (NT, Object Design)

Dallissa Brown (NT, Ceramics)

Andrew Carvolth (SA, Furniture)

Nicola Charlesworth & Kim Stanek – Object Density (NSW, Furniture)

Samantha Dennis (TAS, Jewellery)

Carly Tarkari Dodd (SA, Jewellery)

Hamish Donaldson (VIC, Glass)

Jack Fearon – FEARON (QLD, Furniture)

Olive Gill-Hille (WA, Furniture)

Marcel Hoogstad Hay (SA, Glass)

Katherine Hubble (VIC, Jewellery)

Jay Jermyn (QLD, Lighting)

Nicolette Johnson (QLD, Ceramics)

Lavinia Ketchell (QLD, Object Design)

Claudia Lau (VIC, Ceramics)

Nicole Lawrence (VIC, Furniture)

Julian Leigh May (VIC, Furniture)

Alfred Lowe (SA, Ceramics)

Marlo Lyda (NSW, Lighting)

Claire Markwick-Smith (SA, Furniture)

Simone Namunjdja (NT, Object Design)

Nathan Nhan (ACT, Ceramics)

Annie Paxton (VIC, Furniture)

Douglas Powell – Duzi Objects (WA, Furniture)

Amy Seo & Shahar Cohen – Second Edition (NSW, Furniture)

Emma Shepherd – Sundance Studio (VIC, Weaving)

Shahn Stewart – Alchemy Orange (VIC, Object Design)

Dalton Stewart (VIC, Furniture)

Georgie Szymanski (VIC, Furniture)

Kohl Tyler (VIC, Ceramics)

Isaac Williams (TAS, Furniture)

Installation view of Rigg Design Prize 2025, on display 19 September 2025 to 1 February 2026 at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia. Photo: Madeleine Burke

LeAmon called it a “privilege” to work alongside this new generation of designers. 

“Their talent, imagination and drive offer a powerful and optimistic glimpse into the future of Australian design,” she said. “Their work reminds us that design is not only alive and well in this country – it’s evolving in bold, brilliant ways that deserve to be seen and celebrated.”

The Rigg Design Prize 2025 will be on display until February 2026 at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Fed Square, Melbourne.

Related: Learn more about the 30UNDER30 alumni who were among the finalists of the 2025 Rigg Design Prize.