The Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition has travelled to its third venue in Millennium Court Arts Centre in Portadown, Northern Ireland. This time the core of the exhibition is joined by the works of the Future Lights competition winners of years 2016 and 2017.
Future Lights is an an ambassadors programme and a part of the European Ceramics and its Dimensions project. Each year, people in the early stages of a career in ceramics from across Europe are invited to apply with their works, using their experience and creativity to respond to the theme of the year. The winners of the competition become Future Lights ambassadors and get the opportunity e.g. to showcase their work at the Ambiente trade fair in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Until the beginning of 2017 two competitions have been organised and therefore there are also two groups of ambassadors. In the summer 2017 the ambassadors are also a part of the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition in Portadown.
In the Future Lights Competition 2016 the theme was to find an artistic answer to the topic of international, cultural influences in ceramics and the winners were Kate Haywood (UK), Yuka Kikumoto (UK/JP), Beth Lewis-Williams (UK), Francesca Romei (IT/UK), Kristina Rutar (SI) , Atis Šnēvelis (LV), Emily Stapleton-Jefferis (UK) and Zora Žbontar (SI). In the Future Lights Competition 2017 the theme was Incorporating the qualities of hand-crafted work into industrially produced ceramics and the winners were Karolina Bednorz (PL/IT), Rhiannon Ewing-James (IE/UK), Maria Joanna Juchnowska (PL/NO), Monika Müller (CH), Sabrina Vasulka (AR/UK) and Wendy Ward (NI). The backgrounds of the winners of 2017 differ from an artistic, to a more design-focused and to industrial education. All of them share the same passion for ceramics but at the same representing different approaches to the material.
The Future Lights ambassadors represent the future makers in the field of ceramics and therefore it’s great to have them as a part of the Shaping the Future exhibition. The competition offers the participants a great change to represent their work and can work as a stepping stone in their careers. For example Wendy Ward, 2017 Future Lights winner, has been successful also otherwise with her design series that combine the delicacy of ceramics with light, read more on Wendy Ward Lighting. Rhiannon Ewing-James, who is also part of the 2017 winners group, has works both in the Shaping the Future core exhibition and in the Future Lights section. She is also busy working as the creative producer of the British Ceramics Biennial. Maria JJ Juchnowska with her brand Mari JJ Design was selected as the only Polish designer to showcase her works at Wanted Design in New York, United States earlier this year.
Next chance to see the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition accompanied by the Future Lights ambassadors will be in autumn 2017 at the British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom. This year the theme of the Future Lights Competition was Diversity – of materials, people, methods, approaches, and cultures and the call closed on the 31st of March 2017. We’ll hear more about the participants and the new winners later this year. Stay tuned!
The exhibition is open at the Millennium Court Arts Centre in Portadown, Northern Ireland between June 24th and July 22nd 2017. Follow the Future Lights competition on Facebook or on the web page.