Jaime Haydon, one of the names making waves at the Ceramics Biennial 2009.
Mark Sheerin runs the rule over the Ceramics Biennial 2009 and finds several reasons to vist Stoke on Trent this autumn.
From Venice to Vancouver, Melbourne to Moscow, it seems the arts biennial is taking over the world. Liverpool’s got one, and now so has Stoke-on-Trent. 2009 is the year of the first British Ceramics Biennial.
This celebration of pottery in The Potteries is now set to take place every two years in Autumn. After the January closure of the Waterford Wedgwood kilns, organisers North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership hope it will fire up the city once again.
Several thousand visitors are expected, from all around the globe and/or Staffordshire. And here are just a few of the reasons why.
Jaime Hayon
Venue: Emma Bridgewater Pottery
Those hoping for traditional china tableware may want to look away now. A 10-year retrospective of Jaime Hayon shows that ceramics can be fresh, playful and evidently inspired by a teenage love of skateboarding and graffiti.
Yet Biennial co-director Barney Hare Duke believes Josiah Wedgwood would have approved. “Jaime Hayon is a fantastic example of a successful collaboration between art, design and manufacture,” he says.
Stephen Dixon
Venue: Gladstone Pottery Museum and The Roslyn Works
It’s hard not to mourn an industry which leaves behind a factory full of bone china flowers. Fortunately, Stephen Dixon has salvaged thousands of the items to declare war on the economic downturn with a 4m long sculpted battleship called Monopoly.
The outdoor work also contains new flowers made on site by former Gladstone factory workers, some of whom have been in the trade for 50 years. They too are commemorated with a flower trail and a photo exhibition inside the museum.
Earthen Vessels
Venue: The Roslyn Works
Among those to rally to the aid of post-industrial Stoke are the villagers of rural India. Earthenware is thriving in Khavda and Lodai, two settlements in the state of Gujarat. And 200 fine examples have been shipped some 4,000 miles to a disused factory that once made pottery by the famous name of Spode.
Fortunately the building now houses the Roslyn Works, a regional hub of the creative industries. Creative types, and all those who like beautiful design, can now make purchases from the collection of water pots, vessels and ceremonial serving dishes.
CJ O’Neill
Venue: Wedgwood Institute
Charity shops in Stoke may be running low on china. Because ceramicist CJ O’Neill and a team of under-privileged youths have been buying up plates in bulk. It’s all in the name of guerrilla ceramics, which is a theme of the Biennial, and they now form part of a site-specific installation.
The WonderWall is where local pottery meets local graffiti. This tableware has been glued up, whitewashed and then sprayed up. Plans are afoot to use the finished items to create a dinner service. Surely a great talking point at any dinner party.
British Ceramics Biennial Awards Exhibition
Venue: The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery
When Biennial co-director Hare Duke is pressed for a comparison, he says: “It’s the Man Booker prize of the ceramics world.” A total of £40,000 is up for grabs and 27 short-listed finalists have made it into the Awards show.
Unlike the Booker, there are categories for batch production, ceramics in the built environment, ceramics in industry and one-off ceramics. Plus, you can enjoy all the work in a matter of hours. It promises to be a fantastic centrepiece to the festival.
All listed exhibitions and events run until November 29, except for the British Ceramics Awards Exhibition, which runs until December 13. All shows are free of charge, except for the Gladstone Pottery Museum, for which offers can be found in the festival programme. For more information, including opening hours, venue addresses and visitor offers, see the festival website at www.britishceramicsbiennial.com
