The week’s news in the ceramic art world – February 25, 2025

Applications are now open for the 32nd Mediterraneo Contemporary Ceramics Competition, which will take place in the beautiful Italian city of Grottaglie (Puglia) between July 5 and October 12, 2025. Three prizes will be awarded: the 1st Mediterraneo Prize (€5000), the 2nd Personal Exhibition Prize (€2000 and a personal exhibition in the next edition), and the 3rd Artist’s Residence reserved for Under 35 (€1000 and a residency). The deadline for applications is May 5.

“While I’ve followed Takuro Kuwata on Instagram for the past seven years, I’ve only seen his work floating by on a glowing two-inch by two-inch screen. Seeing his show at Salon 94 was a bit of a parasocial experience. […] But, as someone who makes ceramics, teaches ceramics, and thinks about ceramics at least twelve hours a day, it had an in-person wow factor I wasn’t expecting and was surprisingly more intimate.” Read Cammi Climaco’s review of Takuro Kuwata’s show.

In Tracing Ways, artists E. Saffronia Downing and Rosemary Holliday Hall embrace a collaborative approach to materiality, exploring themes of place-making and site-specificity. Using clay, found objects, and collected traces, their installation maps the relationships between makers, matter, and the environment. This review examines how the artists reimagine material as a vessel for presence, process, and transformation. Read Katherine Ross’s review in Ceramics Now.

We recently published an article about Nato, a ceramicist preserving Georgia’s ancient traditions through her work. Her earthenware vessels are more than functional objects—they carry centuries of history, craftsmanship, and cultural identity. By blending heritage with modern techniques, she redefines Georgian ceramics for a new generation. Through Vacation With An Artist (VAWAA), you can experience this tradition firsthand and learn directly from Nato. Read the full article and book your 4-day apprenticeship here.

Messums ORG is hosting a ceramics symposium on Saturday, March 1, to celebrate the opening of their 5th annual ceramic season with Contemporary Danish Ceramic. The symposium begins with an informal gathering in the exhibition space, offering the opportunity to engage with exhibiting artists and explore themes in the show. A curator-led tour follows, introducing the exhibition’s central ideas. In the afternoon, international ceramic experts will discuss Danish ceramics within the broader European context of art, craft, and design while examining the role of major porcelain manufacturers and leading artists. The day will conclude with talks from select exhibiting artists. Online tickets are free.

CERCCO (the Center for Experimentation and Realisation in Contemporary Ceramics of the Geneva University of Art and Design) invites applications for two residencies for 3 months. Workspace at CERCCO is open to ceramicists, designers, artists, and architects who wish to experiment and carry out a specific project. CERCCO will make a wide range of technical and artistic expertise available. Applications deadline: March 16.

ATHENA! Clay Fair invites artists to apply to the next edition of the fair, to take place in Ghent (Gent), Belgium, between May 17-18, 2025. They are looking for experimental and unexpected pieces that cross the border of the ordinary object. Participation fee: €100. Applications are due March 2.

Applications are also open for Argillà Argentona 2025, an international ceramics festival that will take place in the town of Argentona, near Barcelona, between July 4-6, 2025. Over 30.000 people visit the festival, which includes exhibitions, workshops, pottery demonstrations, film screenings, and more. Participation fee: between €120-240. Applications are due March 31.

A-B Projects is hosting a new State of Ceramics online discussion, Material Culture: Revealing Obfuscated Histories. Join Lauren Sandler to discuss the colonial legacies embedded in clay and the systems of extraction and erasure that shape its use. This conversation will explore ceramics as material culture, revealing hidden histories, rupturing dominant narratives, and reimagining pedagogies and practices. The discussion will take place on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at 10 AM (PST).

The Crocker Art Museum is hosting a conversation between 2024 Knudsen Prize winner, Ashwini Bhat, and Sara Morris, the Crocker’s Ruth Rippon Curator of Ceramics, on Saturday, March 8, 2025, from 2 PM (PST). Bhat will discuss her work’s exploration of landscape, ecology, climate change, and natural history, as well as how her practice is shaped by time spent in India and California.