(Above) A young ceramics fan checks out the work of Stephen Dixon. Photograph: Joel Chester Fildes.
The 2009 closure of the Wedgewood Factory may have dealt a body blow to the ceramics industry in the Potteries but there are encouraging signs that ceramics production in Stoke-on-Trent is still in good health.
Eschewing the effects of the economic downturn on its parent organisation, the Wedgwood Museum is one of the four shortlisted museums in the running for this year’s Art Fund Prize and in October 2009 Stoke-on-Trent welcomes the UK’s first major contemporary ceramics festival.
The 2009 British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) will bring together new and established artists in an impressive ten-week programme of exhibitions, awards and events featuring everything from ‘Guerrilla Ceramics’ to an installation of 300 water pots made by Indian pottery families.
But it’s not just about showing off the latest from the ceramic world. The new flagship cultural event will also put in place projects extending beyond the ten-week festival, supporting investment and creative development in Stoke-on-Trent.
Kachchh water pots.
They include ‘BCB Start’, which will fund the set up of nine small creative ceramics businesses in the city, partnering also with industry and educational organisations in a long-term programme designed to nurture new creative talent.
“What the Biennial is trying to do is tap into the level of creativity in ceramics in Stoke and reconnect it with the wider ceramics sector,” says BCB Co-Director Jeremy Thophilus. “Stoke is the mother city for studio ceramics. Everyone connected with ceramics has that sense of a link and I suppose what we’re doing is putting the call out to say now’s the time to rebuild that relationship.
“There are more ceramic companies working in Stoke today than there ever has been,” he adds, “but what that tells you is there are a lots of small groups of people working in and around the industry, working small-scale and in a way that signals how the whole scenario has changed in Stoke.”
Jaime Hayon, Cactus.
Evidently Stoke-on-Trent is not a place of massive ceramics production anymore, but it is a place where experimentation and innovation continue. And that experimentation will be rewarded by the inaugural BCB Awards, which celebrate energy and innovation in contemporary British ceramics - with total cash awards of £50,000
A BCB Awards Exhibition - opening at Stoke-on-Trent’s Potteries Museum and Art Gallery on October 3 - will feature work by 27 of the shortlisted artists and industries and will form the centrepiece of the ten-week Biennial.
“The idea is that it will become a regular take on what’s happening in the ceramics field,” says Jeremy. “It’s not just about batch production or even one-off work but it includes proposals for ceramics and the built environment and what we see as being the most innovative work going on in industry.”
Robert Dawson.
Meanwhile the festival’s ‘Reveal’ strand will present a range of exhibitions across the city’s former factories and creative spaces, highlighting the global presence of ceramics, exploring the links between Stoke-on-Trent and the world’s creative community.
Another key factor in promoting those links is the presence of Jaime Hayon. The innovative Spanish designer will be presenting his designs for ceramics from the past decades at the Biennial. A first for him and for Stoke-on-Trent.
“That sets a marker for what we want to do in terms of putting the Biennial on an international framework,” adds Jeremy, “we’ll be bringing work to Stoke that would never have been seen before.”
Ikuko Iwamoto, Spikeyspikey Bowl, porcelain, 2009
And in case anybody in the city thinks the Biennial will pass them by, the art of ceramics will be taken into the public realm with ‘Guerilla Ceramics’, in which commissioned artists will create temporary interventions in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire’s urban landscapes and public places.
CJ O’Neil, Stephen Dixon and Robert Dawson will create major site-specific works and installations, creating new ways of looking at the city.
“It’s about people and connecting ceramics as a practice,” says Julian, “and it meets one of our objectives for the Biennial, which is very much about embedding ceramics into the city and encouraging people to raise their ambitions and expectations.
“We’re not going to solve all of the city’s problems but we’re going to help make ceramics an integral part of regeneration.”
Royal Crown Derby, Long Eared Owl, 2008
The 2009 BCB takes place in Stoke-on-Trent between October 3 and December 13 2009 and will initiate and run a five-year programme of events and activities culminating in further Biennial events of international standing in autumn 2011 and 2013.
See www.britishceramicsbiennial.com for more details.
