The week’s news in the ceramic art world – June 26, 2024

• Applications are open for the Bizen Contemporary Ceramics Biennale 2024. The event will provide an opportunity to reaffirm Bizen’s value as one of Japan’s leading ceramic art cities by inviting ceramic works from Japan and abroad. Several prizes will be awarded, including a Grand Prix worth 5,000,000 JPY (~$31,000). There is no entry fee, and the applications are due July 31, 2024.

• Last month, the third edition of the International Ceramics Symposium ‘Bird of Paradise’ took place in the breathtaking setting of Georgia’s Caucasus Mountains. Organized by Lopota Lake Resort & Spa and the Ceramic Gallery/Studio “White Studio”, with the support of LIKANI as a general sponsor, the symposium brought together 14 artists from 10 countries to create ceramic sculptures for a unique outdoor museum. We spoke with Nato Eristavi, whose passion and vision have been essential in realizing this dream. Read the interview in Ceramics Now.

• Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of visiting the Keramikmuseum Westerwald (Germany) for jurying the 15th Westerwald Prize. Congratulations to the winners (see the winning works here): Irina Razumovskaya (1st Prize for Free Ceramics, €10,000), Nora Arrieta (2nd Prize for Free Ceramics, €6,000), Bodil Manz (The Prize of the Town of Höhr-Grenzhausen for salt-fired ceramics, €10,000), and Beate Gatschelhofer (New Talent Prize, €3,000). The spectacular selection of this year’s prize will be on view starting September 27, 2024.

• The Parcours Céramique Carougeois (PCC), one of Europe’s pioneering biennials of contemporary ceramics, is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. The theme of the 18th Parcours Céramique Carougeois is ‘Writing, images, messages’, with around twenty exhibitions scheduled from 14 to 22 September 2024 in the arcades and galleries of Carouge, near Geneva, Switzerland. Read more about the event in Ceramics Now.

• The international ceramic performance festival Terra Ceràmica premiered on June 1st in l’Alcora, Spain. Curated by Ana Beltrán Porcar, the event featured exceptional performances that highlighted the possibilities of clay, ceramics, and “earth,” unifying matter with body, movement, and action.

• The Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation recently announced the 2024 recipients of the Maxwell/Hanrahan Awards in Craft, honoring artists for their profound contributions at the intersections of multidisciplinary inquiry, cultural stewardship, and innovative material practice. The five awardees received $100,000 in unrestricted funding: Cristina Córdova, Ibrahim Said, Nisha Bansil, Raul De Lara, and Thea Alvin.

• The Museum of Ceramic Art New York (MoCA/NY) invites readers to explore their platform. As a virtual platform, MoCA/NY’s primary mission is to unite the diverse and complex multitudes of the global clay community–making it accessible wherever you are.

• Congratulations are also in order for the winners of the XVI International Biennial of Ceramics of Manises (Spain): Juan Ortí (1st Prize), Yuriy Musatov (2nd Prize), Aitana Rodríguez (3rd Prize), Fabienne Withofs (4th Prize), Carlos Martínez Mediero (Ceramic Product Prize). The exhibition is on view at the Museo de Cerámica de Manises until September 13, 2024.

• Join artists Barbara Beyer and Tessa Eastman for Clay in Conversation 8: Conflict, the eighth in a series of conversations curated by artist Julia Ellen Lancaster, presenting artists working with clay and ceramics. Each conversation centers on a specific theme – acting as a lens through which the artists will present a piece of work or project. A Q&A session with the audience follows the presentations. The event will be held at Portland Hall, London, on June 28th.

• Several ceramic fairs and festivals will take place later this week: Saint-Sulpice Céramique (Paris, France), Delft Ceramics Days (Delft, the Netherlands), Hepworth Wakefield Ceramics Fair (Wakefield, West Yorkshire, UK), Independent Ceramics Market (Abney Public Hall, London, UK).

• Gordon Russell Design Museum is hosting an online talk with Ashley Thorpe on Friday, June 28, at 6 PM (BST). Titled Recent Trends in Contemporary British Studio Ceramics, the talk will demonstrate the growing strength and increasing variety of contemporary ceramics practices in the UK. Tickets cost £7.

• What’s On View: Ebitenyefa Baralaye: Host is on view at David Klein Gallery, Detroit / Wesley Anderegg: Sonora is on view at Hecho A Mano, Santa Fe / Shamai Sam Gibsh: Circles is on view at LexArt Gallery, Lexington / Madoda Fani: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men is on view at Southern Guild, Cape Town / Yoona Hur: Moving Stillness is on view at Heather Gaudio Fine Art, Greenwich / Casey Chen: Fields of Flowers is on view at Galerie Lefebvre & Fils, Paris / Michael Brennand-Wood + Oriel Zinaburg: Follow and Respond is on view at Taste Contemporary, Geneva / A Fine Line: Modern Makers at Pitzhanger is on view at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, London / Sara Cancellieri: Move as little as possible is on view at Mondoromulo Arte Contemporanea, Castelvenere / Doug Casebeer: A Sense of Place – The Long View is on view at Plinth Gallery, Denver / Alina Tudor: Prima Materia is on view at Galateea Contemporary Art, Bucharest / Rosa Nguyen: Celestial Bodies is on view at Blue Shop Gallery, London