The week’s news in the ceramic art world – May 5, 2026

🚇 If you happen to be in London over the coming week(s), several major ceramics events are worth adding to your calendar. Ceramics Unbound launches at the Affordable Art Fair Hampstead from May 6–10, marking the fair’s first dedicated ceramics exhibition, curated by Caroline Jackman. Ceramic Art London returns to Olympia West from May 8–10, bringing together leading studio ceramic artists in one of the UK’s most important ceramics fairs. Next week, Secret Ceramics returns during London Craft Week at Sotheby’s from May 11–17, presenting 100 donated works by leading and emerging artists, sold anonymously in support of FiredUp4 Clay Clubs. I also recommend visiting Refigured: Embodiment in Contemporary Ceramics at County Hall Pottery, on view from May 12 to June 21, with a private view on May 11 (the final exhibition in the gallery’s in-house program before the space closes this summer).

🗓️ Looking beyond London, the ceramics calendar remains full this month, with exhibitions, competitions, and fairs opening or taking place across Europe and beyond. Highlights include the XVII International Ceramic Biennial of Manises (opens May 8, Manises, Spain), the LOEWE Craft Prize 2026 (opens May 13, Singapore), the Diessener Pottery Market (May 14–17, Dießen am Ammersee, Germany), the 6th International Ceramics Triennial UNICUM (opens May 15, Ljubljana, Slovenia), the 43rd Concurs International de Ceràmica de l’Alcora (opens May 16, L’Alcora, Spain), and the Ceramic Market Andenne – Li Dièle (May 24–25, Andenne, Belgium). Find more events in our 2026 calendar.

👉 The city of Castellamonte (Italy) has opened applications for the international competition Ceramics in Love, organized as part of the 65th Castellamonte Ceramics Exhibition. Open to all ceramic artists, the competition focuses on ceramics as a field of passion, originality, and contemporary expression, across art and design. Selected works will be exhibited at Palazzo Botton from August 22 to September 13, 2026. Awards include a €4,000 first prize. Applications are due May 30, 2026.

⚡ Ceramic artists based in the US are invited to submit their work for the Baltimore Clayworks Clay Biennial 2027, a national juried exhibition organized by Baltimore Clayworks in conjunction with the 61st Conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). Juried by Ching Yuan Chang, the exhibition highlights the diversity and evolving language of contemporary ceramics, welcoming functional, sculptural, installation-based, and experimental works. The exhibition will be on view from January 9 to March 13, 2027, with applications due September 25, 2026.

🤏 Applications are now open for Small Favors 2026, the 20th anniversary edition of the popular exhibition organized by The Clay Studio. Open to US-based artists working in any media, the exhibition challenges participants to create works that fit within a 4-inch cube, encouraging experimentation at a small scale. Selected pieces will be exhibited and offered for sale from October 8 to December 31, 2026, with a broad price range aimed at both new and established collectors. Applications are due June 1, 2026.

💬 The Clay Studio continues its Clay & Conversations series this May with three online talks featuring artists, curators, and scholars. On May 7, partners from the Museum for Art in Wood will discuss Radical Americana with Jennifer Navva Milliken, Viola Bordon, and BA Harrington. On May 14, art historian Ezra Shales will present his new book, Pitchers of American Life: Art Within Reach. The series continues on May 21 with Laura Keim of Stenton, previewing upcoming Radical Americana exhibitions. All events take place on Zoom, and registration is free.

🗨️ The North West Ceramics Foundation will host their next Speakers Series on Sunday, May 24, 2026, at 4pm PST, featuring Australian artist Dr. Peter Wilson. Dr. Wilson’s talk Materiality, intuition, heart, head and hands: seduced by the magic of clay will focus on the various stages of his life as a potter: continuous learning, skill development, understanding materials, the fire, glazes, the striving for perfection, finding a direction, and the need for constant renewal, what he calls “trying to fix a silent poem in clay.”

📙 Book recommendation: Queer Crafts: Material Practices and the Making of Identity by Daniel Fountain. Through a focused analysis of work made from textiles, ceramics, wood, paper, metal, and glass, this book explores how contemporary artists, designers, and practitioners identifying as LGBTQ+ use a range of craft materials and processes to explore their identity and queerness. Find the book on Amazon (international) or Bookshop (US).