British Ceramics Biennial
Monopoly, detail, Stephen Dixon, 2009
The newly-launched British Ceramics Biennial opens this week in the ceramics centre of Stoke-on-Trent
The 10-week programme of events is the first major contemporary ceramics festival to be held in the UK and the organisers hope that the buzz it generates will breathe new life into British ceramics in general and Stoke-on-Trent in particular. And it certainly promises to be buzzy, with events ranging from installations by Spanish superstar Jaime Hayon to ‘guerilla’ ceramics by four artists commissioned to make temporary works for local public spaces mixed in with a plethora of exhibitions, talks and forums.
The festival highlight is the BCB Awards Exhibition at the Potteries Museum and Gallery. It showcases work by 27 shortlisted ceramists (selected by a heavyweight panel of judges including Emmanuel Cooper, Alison Britton and Jeremy Theophilus) who are vying for five individual awards worth up to £10,000. The names shortlisted for the One-Off Ceramics award reads like a Who’s Who of contemporary ceramics with serious, established artists like Clare Twomey, Stephen Dixon, Philip Eglin and Neil Brownsword, featuring alongside younger makers like Catrin Howell and Halima Cassell. Interestingly, there’re also a few less well-known names as there are also awards for Ceramics in the Built Environment and Ceramics in Industry – these include Andrew Burton, Robert Dawson and Ibstock Brick Ltd.
www.britishceramicsbiennial.com
