Catching the Wave: Exploring the 4th Latvia Ceramics Biennale

Martinsons Award 2023

This is the fourth time the Latvia Ceramics Biennale has brought together some of the world’s leading ceramicists, throwing Latvia into the spotlight as the current epicenter of activity in ceramic art. Through an extensive and exciting programme unfolding across multiple venues in Daugavpils and Rīga, the forum illuminates current trends and developments in contemporary ceramics with a strong emphasis on diversity in how the artists approach the medium.

Martinsons Award is a sweeping international juried exhibition and the central event in the biennale calendar. From a record 685 submissions from 71 countries, an international jury selected 64 best applicants for the final cut, acquiring 59 exhibits for the spectacular group display. After a final on-site assessment, three Latvian and three international artists are declared the winners of this high-status award commemorating the Pēteris Martinsons (1931–2013), the celebrated Latvian ceramicist.

This year, the biennale theme is “Troubled Waters”. In most creation myths worldwide, water is the element that brings new life. A substance from which a divine power separates the earth, life and everything that is. The restless flow of water has become an apt, compelling metaphor for flight of thought, a fine material approximation for the physically intangible. Our archetypical perspective on ceramics is tied to reigning in the troubled waters – arresting their flow in a body of clay – which is precisely why the close relationship of water and ceramics is as old as the human ability to work this material.

The Martinsons Award 2023 exhibition is on view at the Rothko Museum (Daugavpils) through February 18, 2024.

The biennale is organised by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Ceramics in cooperation with the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre.
Curators: Valentīns Petjko, Aivars Baranovskis

Martinsons Award 2023 National Laureates:
• Gold Prize: SANITA ĀBELĪTE, Behind the Mirror;
• Silver Prize: DAINIS LESINS, In Search of the Lost World;
• Bronze Prize: HARALD JEGODZIENSKI, Flintstone #22;
• Honorary Mentions: OLGA MELEHINA, 24 Hours before Disappearance; JUTA RINDINA, Benign Sample Catalogue (Collection through the Ages).

Martinsons Award 2023 International Laureates:
• Gold Prize: MILENA PIRŠTELIENĖ (Lithuania), Panic Rooms;
• Silver Prize: ZIWEN XU (China), Bonsai. Ritual;
• Silver Prize: MÁRTA RADICS (Hungary), Cave Creek;
• Honorary Mentions: REMY DUBIBE (France), Under…Lines; KAITING CHAN (Taiwan), Tears.

The jury panel:
• Valentīns Petjko (Latvia) – artist, curator for the Latvia Ceramics Biennale;
• Dainis Pundurs (Latvia) – artist, educator, Martinsons Award 2021 National Winner;
• Agnė Šemberaitė (Lithuania) – artist, curator, Martinsons Award 2021 International Winner;
• Vasi Hirdo (Romania) – editor-in-chief at Ceramics Now;
• Claudia Casali (Italy) – art historian, director of the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza;
• Ilona Romule (Latvia) – artist, member of the International Academy of Ceramics in Geneva (former board member);
• Andreia Vale Lourenco (Portugal) – curator for the Aveiro International Biennial of Artistic Ceramics;
• Gaëlle Cornut (Belgium) – artistic director at Ceramic Art Andenne.

The Latvia Ceramics Biennale dates back to 2016 and is organised by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Ceramics in cooperation with the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre. As the only event on such a massive scale in Eastern Europe, it has brought Latvia broad international fame.