Migration(s), Connections, Vocation at Ariana Museum, Geneva

Migration(s), Connections, Vocation are on view at Ariana Museum, Geneva

September 13, 2022 – March 19, 2023

Migration(s), 33 ceramic artists

The Ariana Museum joins the festivities for the 70th anniversary of the International Academy of Ceramics (IAC) and the 50th IAC Congress by presenting Migration(s). Responding to the competition launched by the museum, the 33 selected ceramic artists present works created especially for the occasion.

In line with the theme of the IAC Congress, “Melting Pot”, the Ariana Museum has mounted MIGRATION(s), which allows for multiple interpretations: displacement of individuals or populations, exchanges of visions and experiences, or techniques related to ceramics.

Between the transfer of know-how, transhumance, and multiculturalism, the land brings people together, transgressing borders. Footprints in the sand, bundles, doner kebabs, mortal remains, chrysalises, funerary boats or porcelain huts: the exhibition takes us on an unusual journey through life and intercultural exchanges.
With its 33 artists and 20 nationalities represented, this exhibition returns to the founding values of the IAC, created in the aftermath of the Second World War, i.e., to promote better understanding between peoples and to instil a message of peace. A mission that seems, even today, most necessary!

Artists: Montserrat Altet Girbau (ES), Lia Bagrationi (GE), Heidi Bjørgan (NO), Léandre Burkhard (CH), Razalina Busel (BY), Fabien Clerc (CH), Christine Coste (FR), Michael Flynn (UK), Yoshimi Futamura (JP/FR), Magdalena Gerber (CH), Patricia Glave (CH), Ana Lucia Gómez (MX), Eliisa Isoniemi (FI), Rashi Jain (IN), Yanze Jiang (CN), Jacques Kaufmann (FR), Cecil Kemperink (NL), Myung-Joo Kim (KR), Yoojoo Kim (KR), Paul March (UK/FR), Yuriy Musatov (UA), Jane Norbury (UK/FR), Danijela Pičuljan (HR), Norma Rodney Harrack (JM), Maude Schneider (CH), Anja Seiler (DE/CH), Sıdıka Sevim (TR), Adel Souki (BR), Hongyu Tan (CN), Hirotsune Tashima (JP/US), Xavier Toubes (ES/US), Estefania Valls Urquijo (GT), Nataliya Zuban (UA)

Curator: Hanspeter Dähler

Connections, 50 years of donations

From the 1960s to the present day, the Museum has received nearly 600 donations from member artists. Vessels, sculptures, and installations from all over the world, these selected pieces draw up a cartography of the world of ceramics, between craftsmanship and formal freedom, tradition and innovation.

From the outset, founder of the IAC Henry J. Reynaud was keen to make Geneva the world capital of ceramics, and he set about expanding the Ariana Museum’s ceramics collections by opening them up to pieces that were other than European or historical, in order to “constitute the beginning of a modern art ceramics section.” In 1960 his World Cultural Exchange was the pretext for a first donation of 24 works from both the craft and artistic repertoires. In 1964 Edgar Pelichet instituted a Reynaud Prize, and then the AIC came to reward the first prizes of the Vallauris Biennial and the Faenza International Contemporary Ceramics Competition for almost ten years in the form of a purchase for the Ariana Museum. Alongside these purchases, many spontaneous donations were made by AIC members themselves.

This exhibition is dedicated to all those craftspeople, artists and curators, past and present, who have nurtured the dream of a collection without aesthetic or geographical boundaries.

Curator: Stéphanie Le Follic-Hadida

Vocation, 70 years of history

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the International Academy of Ceramics (IAC) and its 50th Congress, the Ariana Museum is hosting VOCATION, sponsored by the IAC. This exhibition retraces the extraordinary trajectory of the IAC. Created in the aftermath of the Second World War, its main mission is to promote artistic ceramics, to contribute to cultural exchanges, and to sow the seeds for a better understanding between peoples.

Established in 1952 by French diplomat Henry J. Reynaud, the IAC was housed in the Ariana Museum and quickly managed to surround itself with the greatest specialists, institutions, and artists in the world (Picasso, Fontana, Leach, Voulkos, etc.).

The Academy was recognised by UNESCO in 1958. In 1964 its new president, Edgar Pelichet, made the bold choice of focusing on contemporary creation. His successors, Rudolf Schnyder, Tony Franks, Janet Mansfield, Jacques Kaufmann, and Torbjorn Kvasbo, carried forward in this spirit through Congresses that take place every two years in different parts of the world and which rely on inter-culturality and fraternity in knowledge.

Today, with 1,010 members and present in 77 countries, the IAC is faced with an ever-increasing number of challenges: promoting the work of its members, cultural diplomacy, ecological constraints, etc. This fascinating history is chronologically evoked in the twelve windows of the Ariana Museum gallery.

Curator: Stéphanie Le Follic-Hadid

Contact
ariana@ville-ge.ch

Musée Ariana – Swiss Museum for Ceramics and Glass
Avenue de la Paix 10
1202 Genève
Switzerland

Photos courtesy Ariana Museum

Download photo captions for Migration(s) / Download photo captions for Connection(s)