On Tuesday November 6th 2018 the Ceramics and its Dimensions Final Symposium was held at the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria in Berlin. The results of the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future (Module 6) exhibition were presented together with the results of all the other sub-projects. In the evening there was also an evening reception held at the same venue.

The symposium was attended by the European partner institutions and each of the sub-projects were presented by the responsible partners. Porzellanikon porcelain museum director and the leader of the Ceramics and its Dimensions project Wilhelm Siemen welcomed the project partners to the symposium and spoke in his speech about four years long journey of the project, that started in 2014. Professor Maarit Mäkelä from Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture and professor Barbara Schmidt from weissensee kunsthochschule berlin presented the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future sub-project. They talked e.g. about the collaboration between the four European sub-project partner universities, the Kahla workshop in spring 2016, the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future publication, the exhibition architecture and the two years long tour of the exhibition. The project has led into fruitful international collaboration e.g. in the field of technological applications.

Community and Education Programme Manager Dena Bagi from British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) presented the results of the sub-project Education & audience development program (Module 7). Part of the sub-project was the development of the successful Clay Pit workshop in collaboration with Shaping the Future co-ordinator Priska Falin. The workshop concept was first experimented during BCB 2017 and since then it has been organised e.g. in Finland and it has won the Fantastic for Families – Best Family Event Award 2018.

Module 1 – “Ceramics between change and challenge – between past and present” was presented by Biljana Crvenković from Muzej primenjene umetnosti (Belgrade, Serbia) and Dr. Biljana Djordjević from Narodni Muzej u Beogradu (Belgrade, Serbia). Module 2 – “European cultural lifestyle in ceramics – from baroque until today/Traveling exhibition” was presented by Dr. Claudia Casali from Museo Internazionale delle Ceramice (Faenza, Italy). Module 3 – “Architectural ceramics in Europe” was presented by Dr. Jaume Coll Conesa from Museo Nacional de Cerámica y Artes Suntuarias “González Martí” (Valencia, Spain). Module 4 – “Prop ceramics and their relevance in film and advertising” was presented by Désirée Neeb from Porzellanikon (Selb, Germany). Module 5 – “Talking heads interviews” was presented by Jean Milton from The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery (Stoke-on-Trent, UK). Module 9 – “Communication” was presented by Prof. Dr. Andreas Will and Dr. Daniel Schultheiß from TU Ilmenau (Germany). Module 10 – “Skills, Value and Place – A Celebration of Skill” was presented by Dr. Christopher McHugh from University of Ulster (Belfast, NI). At the end of the symposium Lea Stöve from the German Creative Europe Desk Deutschland – Kultur, conducted a discussion between all the project partners about their experiences and future visions. Creative Desks operate in all the EU member countries to assist in matters related to the Creative Europe programme of the EU.

The evening reception was organised in the same space as the symposium. Professor Maarit Mäkelä presented the Shaping the Future exhibition at the event. “The current environmental situation creates challenges and possibilities for ceramics as a local and sustainable material.” she stated when being asked about future of ceramics. At both events, the Future Lights (Module 8) winners Rhiannon Ewing-James, Maria Juchnowska and Monika Daul-Müller presented their work and how winning the competition has effected their lives.

The symposium was the final meeting of the European Ceramics and its Dimensions project. Great collaborations have been developed around the project during the four years it has been running. Hopefully they will continue also in the future!

During the two years, the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition has toured around Europe, it has offered a great opportunity for visitors to vision the future of ceramics together with the works of the exhibition artists. The exhibition is currently on view in Prague, which is the last stop of the eventful journey of the exhibition. This is a great chance to look back and reflect on the experiences of the tour.

Beginning: Collaboration Between Four Universities

The Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future sub-project (Module 6) is led by Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture (FI) and the other collaborative partners are Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin (DE), University of Ulster (NI) and The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (DK). The making process of the exhibition started with an experimental workshop at the Kahla Porcelain factory in Germany in April 2016. At the workshop a group of students, teachers and research staff from the four European partner universities and other stakeholders shared their ideas and thoughts about ceramics and as a result several of the exhibition works were initiated.

Most of the exhibition works were selected through an open call to the students of the four partner universities, but also selected professionals were invited to participate in the exhibition. The exhibition is curated by Finnish artist Riikka Latva-Somppi and the first opening of the exhibition was held at the Copper Smithy in Fiskars, Finland in November 2016. At the opening, also the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future publication was released. The publication is edited by associate professor and the leader of the sub-project Maarit Mäkelä from Aalto University. It offers various perspectives to the future of ceramics discussing it through the themes of design, education, 3D printing and food culture. Besides articles the book consists of workshop texts and the exhibition catalogue. Hopefully the publication will continue to serve as an inspiration for makers of the future.

Seven Venues around Europe

The exhibition has been on view in seven wonderful and very different venues: Copper Smithy in Fiskars (FI), Porzellanikon Staatliches Museum für Porzellan, Hohenberg a. d. Eger / Selb (DE), Millennium Court Arts Centre in Portadown (NI), Spode-China Halls at British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent (UK), Bröhan-Museum in Berlin (DE), National Museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana (SI) and Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague (CZ). Many of the venues have been old and graceful museums but for example in Stoke-on-Trent an old ceramics factory site served as an exhibition venue. The exhibition architecture, designed by Kolja Vennewald from Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin, has beautifully adapted to the different venues.

The exhibition has been on view concurrently with many other interesting exhibitions and events. For example, at the Porzellanikon porcelain museum in Selb, the exhibition Spielraum 125, also future oriented ceramics exhibition, opened at the same time with the exhibition. In Stoke-on-Trent, the exhibition was on view as part of the British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) 2017 festival, which is a festival celebrating and showcasing contemporary ceramics from across the world. Also, the Ceramics and its Dimensions – Ceramics Values conference was part of the BCB 2017 festival and several of the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future artists presented their work at the conference. When the exhibition was open at the National Museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana in 2018, the IV. International Ceramic Triennial UNICUM 2018 was organised concurrently.

Round Table Meetings and Local Additions

The round table discussions have formed an important part of the exhibitions. The idea of the discussions is to gather together local practitioners who work in the field of ceramics to discuss the value and future of ceramics in the local contexts. The first round table meeting was organised in Fiskars and since then the meetings have been held in several of the exhibition venues. One of the round table meetings was organised in Stoke-on-Trent during the BCB 2017 festival under the title Ceramics and Education Summit. The other meetings have been held in Selb and Berlin. The participants of the round table discussions have been for example artists, designers, students as well as individuals associated in the Shaping the Future exhibition. In the different exhibition venues, there have also been guided exhibition tours to make the exhibition more accessible to the public.

In several exhibition venues, there have been local additions that have been on view next to the exhibition. In Fiskars, there was a clay 3D printer in the exhibition hall and during the exhibition an open 3D printing workshop was organised. In Stoke-on-Trent, the exhibition was joined by a selection of prototypes, that were the results of Martin Smith and Steve Brown’s research project “Extending the Potential for the Digitally Printed Ceramic Surface”. In Berlin professor Barbara Schmidt from Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin had curated three local addition: the results of experimental ceramics courses organised at the school, the final thesis projects of the students of the school and an interesting local architectural ceramics adaption. In Prague, the curator Milan Hlaveš and Dita Hálová from the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague had selected works from seven studios in five institutions of higher education in the Czech Republic and one in Slovakia. The local works have shared same themes with the core of the exhibition: local materials and the environment, innovations in shape and dining and technological innovations.

Also, the Ceramics and its Dimensions – Future Lights in Ceramics competition (Module 8) has been in collaboration with the exhibition. The second competition was organised in connection with the first exhibition opening in Fiskars in 2016 and in summer 2017 the works of the winners joined the exhibition in Portadown. Since then, the Future Lights works have been on view with the exhibition in Stoke-on-Trent, Berlin, Ljubljana and Prague.

Collaborations Around the Exhibition and the Future

Various collaborations have evolved around the exhibition. The exhibition co-ordinator Priska Falin from Aalto University has worked together with Dena Bagi from BCB to create a concept for play and learning with clay. The Clay Pit workshop concept was first experimented during BCB 2017 and since then it has been organised e.g. in Finland and it has won the Fantastic for Families – Best Family Event Award 2018. The workshop has been developed further and it will get continuation. The collaboration on 3D printing between Aalto University and The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts has continued and many more experiments with 3D printing in clay have been made. Also, some of the exhibition artists have started collaborations. For example, the exhibition artists Babette Wiezorek and Dawei Yang have founded a collaborative project Additive Addicted that explores the interface between materials, research and development. They work currently at a studio in Berlin.

The different local contexts of the seven tour venues have formed a great background on which to reflect the many possibilities of the future of ceramics. Through the exhibition, emerging young designers and artists have received the chance to show their work internationally together with established professionals. Hopefully the exhibition has inspired many people and effected positively on the future of ceramics.