The workshop was first organised during the British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) 2017 where it attracted more than 4000 visitors. In February 2018 the workshop also visited Finland and Aalto University, read more about the visit here. The aim of the workshop is to play and learn with clay, but also to look at the material’s qualities and how they are used and experienced.
The workshop is part of the Ceramics and its Dimensions education and audience development program (Module 7) and has been carried out by BCB community and engagement programme manager Dena Bagi and Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future coordinator Priska Falin. Besides them, during BCB the workshop was hosted by the following artists: Alice Thatcher, Joanne Ayre, Katie Leonard, Tasmin Williams, Joe Hartley, Helen Felcey and Barry Taylor.
The idea of the workshop is to collect data from the experiences and to develop the concept further. A paper discussing the workshop will be presented at the Restating Clay conference in the Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA) at York Art Gallery (UK) in March 2018.
Read more about the Fantastic For Families Awards 2018 here.
The oversized clay tools of the Clay Pit workshop at the British Ceramics Biennial 2017. (c) Minerva JuolahtiChildren visiting the Clay Pit at the British Ceramics Biennial 2017 in Stoke-on-Trent (UK). (c) Minerva Juolahti
Bröhan-Museum in Berlin Charlottenburg. (c) Minerva Juolahti
The exhibition opened at the Bröhan-Museum in Berlin on Sunday January 28th 2018. The core of the exhibition and the local additions take up almost all of the third floor of the museum. The core of the exhibition is placed in a big hall and the local additions together with the Future Lights winners are located in three smaller rooms. The three local additions are the results of two experimental ceramics courses organised at the Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin, final thesis projects of the students of the school and a local architectural ceramics adaption. The themes of the local additions are well linked with the themes of the core of the Shaping the Future exhibition. Several of the students who present their works in the additional part have also works in the core of the exhibition.
The final thesis work of Maximilian Bellinghausen: “Plating and Processes” 2017. (c) Minerva Juolahti
Experimental Courses at Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin
In one of the smaller rooms two project courses carried out at the Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin are presented. The first project took place in winter term 2015/2016 with the headline “table tools”. The project concentrated on the role of ceramics in the preparation and consumption of food. During the course the students tried to answer the question: How does it influence the food and drink related design if the design is developed from the point of view of the physical properties of food, the food preparation techniques and the sensory perceptions during consumption? The works are from Lilith Habisreutinger, Janis Gildein, Maximilian Bellinghausen, Henrik Hjort, Alexandre Bailly and Simon Ertl.
The results of the course “table tools” 2015/2016. (c) Minerva Juolahti
The other project “Clay-Stones-Earth” took place in summer term 2017 and it concentrated on local materials and their use in ceramics and building. Berlin is located in the state of Brandenburg which is usually considered low in raw materials. The local materials – lignite, wood, sand and clay – have nevertheless been important in the building of the city of Berlin and in the future they might be able to offer ways to develop a more sustainable building culture. This was one of the themes of this course that was an interdisciplinary laboratory for sustainable design. In some of the outcomes of the course 3D printing in ceramics has played an integral role. This section has works from Tau Pibernat, Cindy Valdez, Ursula Jarero, Robin Hoske, Joy Weinberger, Adèle Le Houerf, Anton Richter, Benjamin Gladki, Rahel Jacob, Nils Jünke and Tanguy Fraiture.
Some of the works of the project “Clay-Stones-Earth” 2017. (c) Minerva Juolahti
The themes of these two project courses link intriguingly with three of the key themes of the core exhibition: food design, local materials and new technologies. These themes were also present at the experimental Kahla workshop in April 2016 at the Kahla Porcelain factory, where several of the works of the core of the Shaping the Future exhibition were initiated or even produced.
Next to the room of the two experimental courses of Weissensee Kunshochschule Berlin there is a room that presents the final thesis projects of seven students of the school. The works were developed under the study perspective Design and Experiment and they investigate the potential of ceramics material for vessels and tools for the preparation, consumption and for a deeper sensory perception of food. Through the works the students also examine the potential of different industrial, artisan and digital production methods – such as ceramic 3D printing – as well as experiment with materials, surfaces and processes.
The final thesis project of Maria Braun: “Univessels” 2017. (c) Minerva Juolahti
In this section Babette Wiezorek, Dawei Yang, Laura Görs, Qianyu Zhu, Sarah Bräuner, Maria Braun and Maximilian Bellinghausen present their final thesis projects. These works also link well to the works of the core of the Shaping the Future exhibition, they share for example the themes of food design and new technologies.
Architectural Ceramics to Improve Concert Hall Acoustics
Next to the works of the Future Lights in Ceramics winners a fragment of a ceramic architectural adaption hangs on the wall. This ceramic structure was designed to improve the acoustic features of the hall of Berlin State Opera, when it was renovated. The whole structure is placed on the ceiling of the opera hall and it consists of approx. 250 square meters of open diamond lattice made out of CPBP (Chemically Bonded Photosphate Ceramics). The structure is designed by the architects of the HG Merz architecture firm and is a great example of how ceramics can be used to create new adaptions for architecture.
HG Merz (GER) 2015: Mock-up of the Reverberation Gallery, Berlin State Opera, Unter den Linden (scale 1:1). (c) Minerva Juolahti
On Tuesday February 13th 2018 the interactive Clay Pit workshop was organised for the first time at Aalto University in Finland. The workshop has been developed as a part of the European Ceramics and its Dimensions project.
Shaping the Future co-ordinator Priska Falin presenting the workshop for the participants. (c) Minerva Juolahti
Creating a Place for Play and Learning with Clay
The objective of the Clay Pit workshop concept is to create a place for play and learning with ceramics: The participants explore with the material in its various stages of transition using oversized tools and different spaces and surfaces. The workshop was held at the sculpture workshop on the snowy Otaniemi campus for a group of 15 students and staff members from the course Silicate – Form, glaze and surface structure from University of Art and Design Offenbach. The participants enjoyed the possibility to throw themselves into a process of experimentation with the material without having to think about the outcome or results.
Clay Pit participants experimenting with the different stages of the transition of ceramics. (c) Minerva Juolahti
The Clay Pit was first launched during the British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) festival 2017 in Stoke-on-Trent where it hosted over 4000 participants. The workshop has been developed in a cooperation between community and engagement programme manager Dena Bagi from BCB and Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future co-ordinator doctoral candidate Priska Falin from Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture (Aalto ARTS), Department of Design. They also recreated the workshop at Aalto.
New Master’s Programme in Contemporary Design at Aalto
The visit of the course from University of Art and Design Offenbach was hosted by a new Aalto ARTS design master’s programme called Contemporary Design. The new programme combines the experimental processes of analog and digital design and its first students will start in autumn 2018.
The Clay Pit participants discussing their experiences of the workshop. (c) Minerva Juolahti
The idea of the three-day-visit of the group from Offenbach was to exchange ideas on the experimental ways of teaching design. Professor Maarit Mäkelä and lecturer Anna van der Lei presented their work and the new design master’s programme for the guests. Professor Markus Holzbach from University of Art and Design Offenbach gave a presentation about his work in teaching visualization and material research at the university. The Clay Pit workshop offered a wonderful opportunity for the guests to work with an experimental ceramics process as a part of their visit.
The Clay Pit Workshop as a Research Project
One aim of the Clay Pit workshop is to look at the material’s qualities and how they are used as well the experiences of the participants on how they connect with the material. Data has been collected from the workshop experiences and the Clay Pit concept has been developed further. A paper that discusses the workshop will be presented at the Restating Clay conference in the Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA) at York Art Gallery (UK) in March 2018. The Clay Pit workshop has been shortlisted for Best Family Event award of the Arts Council of England.
Some of the experiments of the Clay Pit workshop. (c) Minerva Juolahti
The Future Lights competition is a great opportunity for people at an early stage in their career in ceramics to show their work internationally and create new networks! The winners get the change to participate in workshops and show their works e.g. at the Ambiente fair in Frankfurt. This years theme of the Future Lights competition is Go Green – Ceramics and the Environment. The applications should be sent by March 31st 2018!
The work of Ahryun Lee, one of the winners of last years competition.
Future Lights in Ceramics – the competition
Future Lights is an annual competition for people at an early stage in their career with ceramics. The aim of the competition is to support people in their careers, to encourage cross-disciplinary learning and approaches and to promote ceramics to younger audiences. The competition is a part of the European Ceramics and its Dimensions project and it is run by Porzellanikon and co-organised by Staffordshire University, the Design and Craft Council of Ireland and the British Ceramics Biennial. So far three competitions have been organised, see the winners on the artist page.
The Theme 2018: Go green – Ceramics and the Environment
In 2018, the Future Lights theme is: Go green – Ceramics and the Environment. This year the judges want to discover talented early career professionals who are exploring questions of sustainability, ecology and resource-saving in both production and use. Read more about the theme here. The following aspects are important in the judgemental process: relevant experience and expertise, the quality of the work evidenced, how well the work responses to the theme and the ability of the applicant to be an ambassador for European ceramics and to inspire others.
The Future Lights in Ceramics – Applicants
The applicants can be e.g. artists, artisans, designers, historians, art historians, museum curators or researchers who work with ceramics. There is no age limit but applicants should have completed their main full-time studies within the last five years and they must be resident in EU or associated states. Applicants should have expertise, experience or innovative ideas that respond to the theme. Applications will be shortlisted and 18 finalists will be invited to present their work to a panel of judges at Kilkenny Castle (UK) in September 2018. The finalists get the chance to visit Ceramics Ireland’s International Festival at Thomastown.
The Future Lights in Ceramics – Winners
6 competition winners will be invited to attend a workshop where participants collaborate across disciplines and develop new work. They are also invited to showcase their work at high profile events across Europe through the wider Ceramics and its Dimensions project. Since summer 2017 the Future Light in Ceramics winners have for example been traveling around Europe with the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition. In February 2019, the winners will exhibit their work at Ambiente fair, the world’s most important consumer goods trade fair that is attended by more than 134,000 trade visitors from over 150 countries.
The application process
Applications must be submitted in English by March 31st 2018. The following information has to be sent with WeTransfer to jana.goebel(at)porzellanikon.org:
Personal details: Name, address, email address, website, social media links
A brief biography in the 3rd person (50 words)
Personal CV
A statement about your work e.g. artist’s statement (100 words)
A response to this year’s theme (250 words)
Why you think you’d be a good ambassador for ceramics (250 words)
Up to 5 photos of your work (printing size at a maximum 21 x 29,7 cm), published articles or research papers
All 8 items should be included in ONE pdf file in the order given above and named as follows: Surname_First Name_FLapplication_2019 (e. g. Goebel_Jana_FLapplication_2019.pdf)
If you have any access or support needs, please get in touch with Jana Göbel from Porzellanikon (jana.goebel(at)porzellanikon.org / +49 9287 91800 614).
Porzellanikon will contact all applicants in July 2018 to inform them of the outcome of their application.
The Jury
The jury is chaired by Wilhelm Siemen, the director of Porzellanikon, and comprises representatives from partners in the Ceramics and its Dimensions project.
Iain Cartwright, British Ceramics Biennial
Franz Chen, Franz Porcelain, Taiwan
Dr. Jaume Coll Conesa, Museo Nacional de Cerámica y Artes Suntuarias “González Martí”
Dr. Biljana Djordjević, National Museum Belgrade
Assistant Professor Dr. Mateja Kos, Narodni muzej Slovenije
Nathalie Lautenbacher, Aalto University
Kai Lobjakas, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Tallinn
Gus Mableson, Design & Crafts Council of Ireland
Professor Barbara Schmidt, Kunsthochschule Berlin
John Tynan, Design and Crafts Council of Ireland
Professor David Sanderson, Staffordshire University
The Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition opened on Sunday January 28th for the fifth time, this time at the Bröhan-Museum in Berlin.
Opening guests at the Bröhan-Museum. (c) Minerva Juolahti
Opening at Bröhan-Museum
The exhibition opening attracted plenty of local people interested in ceramics and design. The director of Bröhan-Museum Dr Tobias Hoffman started the opening speeches by welcomed the guests to the museum. Professor Barbara Schmidt from Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin presented in her speech the different themes and the local additions of the exhibition. Wilhelm Siemen, the director of Porzellanikon and the leader of Ceramics and its Dimensions, ended the speeches by speaking about the importance of European co-operation.
Professor Barbara Schmidt speaking at the opening. (c) Minerva Juolahti
The fifth venue of the around Europe touring exhibition is at the Bröhan-Museum that is located in the quarter of Charlottenburg, Berlin, right next to the Charlottenburg castle. The museum is concentrated on art nouveau, art deco, and functionalism. On its ca. 1000 square meters the museum shows permanent exhibitions that are selected from its large collection of art nouveau, art deco, and the art of the Berlin Secession. At the same time the museum seeks to explore the more contemporary perspective on art and design with changing exhibitions.
Wilhelm Siemen, the director of Porzellanikon, speaking at the opening. (c) Minerva Juolahti
Exhibition and its Local Additions
The Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition and the local additions have taken over almost all of the third floor of the Bröhan-Museum. The core of the exhibition has been placed in a larger white hall and the exhibition layout has once again been modified in a creative new way. The walls of the hall are covered with vitrines and in the middle of the room there are four isles of exhibition works. The vitrines contain mainly the works initiated and/or made at the experimental Kahla workshop in April 2016.
Bröhan-Museum is located next to the Charlottenburg castle (on the right). (c) Minerva Juolahti
In Berlin the exhibition has also been joined by three local additions curated by Barbara Schmidt from the Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin: The final thesis projects of the students of the school, the results of two experimental ceramics courses and an interesting architectural ceramics adaption. Weissensee is one of the four partners of the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future sub-project. The Future Lights in Ceramics winners of 2016 and 2017 have traveled with the Shaping the Future exhibition since Portadown (NI) last summer and Berlin is the third venue where they are on display next to the exhibition. In Berlin they have been joined by the recent winners of 2018. The exhibition will be open at the Bröhan-Museum until April 22nd and during that time a Round Table discussion with local ceramists will be held.
Local media has been interested in the exhibition. (c) Minerva Juolahti
Tour Continues to Ljubljana and Prague
Before Berlin the exhibition was part of the British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent (UK), where it attracted around 17 000 visitors last autumn. During the festival also the Clay Pit workshop, a collaborative project between British Ceramics Biennial, Ceramics and its Dimensions project and Aalto University, was organised, attracting over 4 000 visitors. After Berlin the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition will travel to Ljubljana (Slovenia) and later this year to Prague (Czech Republic).
Here are some pictures of the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition and the Clay Pit workshop that have been a part of the British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) in Stoke-on-Trent, England (October 23rd – November 5th 2017). Around 17 000 people have visited the biennial.
The Clay Pit workshop has been open daily during BCB and around 4 000 visitors have participated in the workshop. Clay Pit is a collaborative project between British Ceramics Biennial, Aalto University and the European Ceramics and its Dimensions project.
The Clay Pit workshop
Children visiting the Clay Pit workshop. (c) Minerva JuolahtiThe oversized clay tools of the Clay Pit workshop. (c) Minerva JuolahtiThe tools after children have visited the workshop. (c) Minerva JuolahtiSome experiments made in the Clay Pit workshop. (c) Minerva Juolahti
The touring Shaping the Future exhibition in its fourth venue in the Spode-China Halls in Stoke-on-Trent, England.
Babette Wiezorek: “The EXEX extruded extensions” (2016). (c) Minerva JuolahtiBjörn Bernt: Churchill Reloaded (2016) in the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition in Spode-China Halls in Stoke-on-Trent (UK). (c) Minerva JuolahtiThe Shaping the Future exhibition in Spode-China Halls in Stoke-on-Trent, England. (c) Minerva JuolahtiThe works of the Future Lights ambassadors 2015/2016 and 2016/2017. (c) Minerva Juolahti
Several artists of the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition presented their work and thoughts on ceramics at the Ceramic Values conference in Stoke-on-Trent (UK). The conference organised by Ulster University (NI) was also the final congress of the Ceramics and its Dimensions project.
One of the exhibition venues of British Ceramics Biennial: the Spode-China Halls in Stoke-on-Trent. (c) Minerva Juolahti
Ceramic Values conference aimed to open discussion about the values and roles ceramics has in the society, and it had three key themes: skills, values and place. The conference venues were the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery and the Spode-China Halls. Among the speakers were several contributors from the Shaping the Future exhibition: professor Barbara Schmidt from Kunsthochschule Berlin Weißensee, professor Maarit Mäkelä, lecturers Nathalie Lautenbacher and Anna van der Lei and students Tuuli Saarelainen and Saija Halko from Aalto University as well as Babette Wiezorek who recently graduated from Weißensee. Aalto University doctoral candidate Priska Falin conducted a workshop and a Round Table discussion was held. At the conference also six of the Future Lights ambassadors presented their work and discussed the topic how to build a career in ceramics. The over 350 participants of the conference came from Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan and across Europe.
Professor Maarit Mäkelä giving her presentation “In Dialogue with the Earth: Creativity, Materiality and Place”. (c) Minerva Juolahti
The conference took place on 5th and 6th of October 2017 and was part of the fifth British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) festival. BCB is a ceramics festival concentrated on contemporary ceramics and consisting of exhibitions, workshops and competitions. This year the festival takes place between September 23rd and November 5th in Stoke-on-Trent. During BCB also the Future Lights 2017 competition was organised and the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition accompanied by the Future Lights ambassadors of 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 opened its doors for the fourth time.
Discussing clay as a material, the craft and the role of place
Professor Barbara Schmidt talked in her presentation about experimental approaches to ceramic from a product design viewpoint. She stated that experimental detours are important in teaching ceramics for product design students. Babette Wiezorek spoke in her presentation about her MA thesis that examines the possibility of integrating organic strategies into the system of a 3D printer. She presented her experiments with a self-built ceramic 3D printer.
Babette Wiezorek giving her presentations “Technology, Material and the Emergence of Form”. (c) Minerva Juolahti
Professor Maarit Mäkelä discussed in her presentation the themes of creativity, materiality and place, and argued that in an artistic process material plays an important role as an actor itself. She talked about the mutual relationship in which she threw herself in with the material world when she spent one year working and collection raw material samples in the volcanic nature of New Zealand. A part of the results of that year can be seen in the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition. Students Tuuli Saarelainen and Saija Halko also discussed the role of place as they talked in their presentation about their work “Spirit of the Place” which is also part of the exhibition. In their collaborative work, they wanted to turn their experiences of an old porcelain factory site into unique art objects.
Saija Halko, Hanna-Kaarina Heikkilä and Tuuli Saarelainen: Spirit of the Place (2016) (c) Chikako Harada
Aalto University lecturers Nathalie Lautenbacher and Anna van der Lei had their presentations in the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition venue. In her talk lecturer Lautenbacher spoke about food related design and the values of handmade small scale production. She stated that craft doesn’t only mean tradition but that it is also the future. Anna van der Lei talked about a slightly different way of approaching the making of ceramics when she discussed her work “CHIL-DISH”. The work consists of tableware that is based on children’s drawings which have been modeled into 3D versions and then 3D printed in porcelain. She thinks that when designing for children, they should themselves also be included in the process at an early stage. “CHIL-DISH” is also part of the exhibition.
As part of the conference Priska Falin conducted an interactive clay workshop in collaboration with BCB Community and Education Programme Manager Dena Bagi. The Clay Pit workshop invites the participants to explore the possibilities of clay via a series of large clay pits, copious amounts of ceramic material, oversize clay tools and creative props. The workshop is going to be open through the whole British Ceramics Biennial.
The Clay Pit workshop at the Spode-China Halls. (c) Minerva Juolahti
An old ceramics factory as exhibition venue
The presence of ceramics can be sensed everywhere in Stoke-on-Trent as old ceramics factories, old bottle kilns and architectural ceramic decorations are present all around. Although Stoke-on-Trent can be seen as the home of English pottery industry, factories have been shut down during the recent decades also there. The Spode-China Halls, where the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition now takes place, was also a factory site still in operation just a bit less than a decade ago. Now it has gotten a new life as a beautiful exhibition venue. The robust interior of the old Spode factory brings the exhibition to a place very similar to that of the old Kahla porcelain factory site, where several of the works of the exhibition were initiated at an experimental workshop in spring 2016. The exhibition will be open at BCB until November 5th and next it will travel to Berlin and open there in January 2018.
The Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition at the Spode-China Halls. (c) Minerva Juolahti
The touring Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition has opened for the third time, this time at the Millennium Court Arts Centre (MCAC) in Portadown, Northern Ireland. The opening was organised on Friday the 23rd of June 2017.
Professor Maarit Mäkelä giving her opening speech for the opening guests. (c) Minerva Juolahti
At the opening professor Maarit Mäkelä, the head of the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future sub-project and professor at Aalto University and Jackie Barker, the Arts Director at MCAC, gave their opening speeches.
The works of the Future Lights ambassadors. (c) Minerva Juolahti
This time the core of the exhibition has been joined by the works of the Future Lights ambassadors of 2015/2016 and 2016/2017. Future Lights is a competition for people in the early stages of their careers in the field of ceramics and is also a part of the European Ceramics and its Dimensions project. The works present visions of the future of ceramics and are an excellent addition to the Shaping the Future exhibition. Read more about the Future Lights ambassadors here.
The third venue of the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition at the MCAC in Portadown. (c) Minerva Juolahti
The third venue of the Shaping the Future exhibition, Millennium Court Art Centre, is an arts centre that focuses on contemporary visual and verbal arts. It is located in Portadown’s former municipal market hall, a converted red-brick building built in 1929. The building is in the center of the city, just a few minutes walk away from the railway station. MCAC has two gallery spaces, a workshop area and a kiln, among other things. It takes a bit more than half an hour by train from Belfast to reach Portadown.
Rhiannon Ewing-James, NI: MADE in KAHLA, 2016. (c) Chikako Harada
Next time the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition accompanied by the Future Lights ambassadors will be on view in autumn 2017 at the British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom. After Stoke-on-Trent, the exhibition will still tour to three cities in Europe: Berlin (Germany), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Praha (Czech Republic).
On Friday June 30th at noon there is going to be organised a symposium “Making A Living As A Ceramicist”. The symposium is a Creative Momentum event, that includes presentation and discussion on how to make a living as a ceramicist. The event is free of charge but registration is essential. More info here.
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.
Works being placed before the opening of the exhibition at Millennium Court Arts Centre. (c) Minerva Juolahti
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.
The ambassadors of 2016 showcasing their work at the Ambiente trade fair in 2016. From left to right: Yuka Kikumoto, Atis Šnēvelis, Beth Lewis-Williams, Zora Žbontar, Emily Stapleton-Jefferis, Kristina Rutar and Kate Haywood.The ambassadors of the 2017 competition at the Ambiente trade fair in February 2017. From left to right: Karolina Bednorz, Wendy Ward, Stefan Weber (Head of Supervisory Board of Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen GmbH), Monika Müller, Wilhelm Siemen (Head of Porzellanikon), Sabrina Vasulka, Rhiannon Ewing-James and Maria Joanna Juchnowska.
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.
Works being placed before the opening of the exhibition at Millennium Court Arts Centre. (c) Minerva Juolahti
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.
Works being placed before the opening of the exhibition at Millennium Court Arts Centre. (c) Minerva Juolahti
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.
The construction of the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition is almost finished, the exhibition will open on Friday this week in the beautiful Millennium Court Arts Centre in Portadown, Northern Ireland. The exhibition will be open between June 24th and July 22nd, welcome!
The third venue of the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition in Millennium Court Arts Centre in Portadown, Northern Ireland. (c) Minerva JuolahtiThe structures of the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition are under construction in the exhibition space of Millennium Court Arts Centre. (c) Minerva JuolahtiThe exhibition team building up the Ceramics and its Dimensions: Shaping the Future exhibition at the Millenniums Court Arts Centre in Portadown, Northern Ireland.
