ROBERT FOSTER METAL PRIZE
Beth Sanderson | Bic Tieu | David Walker | Jenny Johnstone | Kenny Yong Soo Son | Kirsten Haydon | Larah Nott | Lindy McSwan | Marian Hosking | Nicholas Burridge | Oliver Smith | Sean Booth | Sean O'Connell | Wayne Guest | Ximena Briceño
1 NOVEMBER – 14 DECEMBER 2026
Craft + Design Canberra | Level 1, 180 London Circuit, Canberra
Gallery open 10am–4pm | Monday–Saturday
Entry to this exhibition is free
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Accessible bathroom, All gender bathroom, Seating available, Wheelchair accessible
SEE THE CATALOGUE | BOOK THE OPENING | BOOK THE WORKSHOP | BUY THE WORKThe Robert Foster Metal Prize exhibition showcases outstanding contemporary metal work highlighting how imagination, high-quality making skills, good design and innovation can regenerate how we see and interact with the world around us. The Robert Foster Metal Prize encourages and rewards excellence in these field and showcases the work of 15 finalists from across Australia. 
The Robert Foster Metal Prize exhibition is supported by the Tall Foundation, F!nk + Co Director Gretel Harrison, and Craft + Design Canberra and honours the legacy of Robert Foster and the significant contribution he made to Australian design. 
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Beth Sanderson (she/her) is a Melbourne/Naarm based artist and contemporary jeweller. Her practice examines everyday and mundane objects with the aim of finding poetry in moments often overlooked. Beth holds an Advanced Diploma in Jewellery and Object Design from Melbourne Polytechnic and completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) at RMIT in 2023. She was a finalist in Fresh! 2023 at Craft Victoria and received the Student Award for Contemporary Wearables 23 with Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery and was a finalist in Talente Masters of the Future Munich Jewellery Week 2024.
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Bic Tieu is a designer, object maker, and jeweller. She is also a lecturer teaching in the School of Art and Design at the University of NSW. She is interested in ways objects are holders to stories, cultures, and knowledge.
Bic’s practice draws on traditional and contemporary craft and design methods inspired by her Asian-cultural lineages to investigate themes of personal and cross-cultural narratives. Specialising in traditional and contemporary metal and lacquer craft technologies, her practice often utilises a synthesis of these materials to create new perspectives on contemporary object-making and meanings. Her recent work navigates cartographic ways to explore the ‘in-between’ to create new kinds of cultural objects that are representative of the hybrid cultures, diasporic life experiences, and identity represented in the diverse cultures in Australia. Bic’s practice revels in materiality expressed in object-based forms to create a better understanding of cultural diversity within the Asia-Australia context.
Bic’s website -
David Walker graduated from art school in Manchester, UK, a school with a distinct Bauhaus ethos, majoring in silversmithing with a minor in ceramics. With the idea of becoming an industrial designer he was awarded a postgraduate scholarship to study industrial design. Seeking an industrial design position after postgraduate studies he was offered a post as a lecturer in design in Perth, WA. He accepted, beginning a longstanding career in Australian tertiary education culminating in a professorship at Curtin University, WA.
Proudly supported by the Tall Foundation and
Image credit: 2024 Robert Foster Metal Prize Exhibition featuring work from Larah Nott | Photography by 5 Foot Photography