Art
Hugo Byrne honoured with Emerging Maker Award from RDS Art Awards 2025
Hugo Byrne with his RDS Emerging Maker Craft Award at the 2025 RDS Art Awards. Photo: Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland
Limerick’s Hugo Byrne has been announced as the 2025 RDS Art Awards Emerging Maker for his handcrafted knives
The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) announced the winners of the 2025 RDS Arts Awards at a special event held in December, with Hugo Byrne announced as the Emerging Maker Award winner.
The awards celebrate Ireland’s next generation of creative talent, awarding more than €140,000 across visual art, craft, and music. The Awards and prize fund represent a critical investment in the future of Irish culture, ensuring young artists can transition from education to professional practice.
Hugo Byrne crafts culinary knives that balance artistry and function, with the RDS saying, “Using gathered materials and traditional techniques, he creates blades that are a joy to use and beautiful to behold.”
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High-carbon steel develops a unique patina over time, telling the story of its relationship with the user. Paired with salvaged handle materials, each knife reflects a deep connection to the landscape and invites reflection on creativity, nourishment, sustainability, and our place in the world.
Hugo shared on social media, “This is a huge boost to my practice, not only for the accolade itself, but it will help significantly to take my work further in the direction that inspires and excites me – the relationship between landscape and atmosphere, tools, and how we nourish ourselves.”
This year, The RDS marked six decades of craft support, now with a renewed focus on sustainability, and continued to elevate world-class performance opportunities for emerging classical musicians like Jane Sullivan, winner of the RDS Music Bursary.
RDS President John Dardis, speaking at the ceremony, commended the winners. He said, “The RDS Foundation Arts Awards serve as investments in creativity, heritage and the future of Irish culture. I would like to take this opportunity to commend all the artists, makers and musicians shortlisted this year, and to thank our dedicated partners, donors, and the generosity of RDS Members, who without, none of this would be possible.”
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