The week’s news in the ceramic art world – March 6, 2024

• Applications are now open for the 31st Mediterraneo Contemporary Ceramics Competition, which will take place in the wonderful Italian city of Grottaglie (Puglia) between July 13 and October 6, 2024. Three prizes will be awarded: the 1st Mediterraneo Prize (€5000), the 2nd Personal Exhibition Prize (€2000 and a personal exhibition in the next edition), and the 3rd Artist’s Residence reserved for Under 35 (€1000 and a 2-3 weeks residency). The deadline for applications is May 5.

• Applications are also open for the XIII International Ceramics Biennial of El Vendrell, which will take place between November and January in El Vendrell, Catalonia, Spain. The main prize value is €4300. Only twenty artworks will be selected, and the winner will show their work in a personal exhibition in 2025. Applications are due August 9.

• Medalta (Alberta, Canada) invites artists to apply to their residencies. Artists worldwide go to Medalta for lengths of time, from one day to one year, to make in a community that validates risk and nurtures creativity. The resident artists also teach and occupy a vital role in delivering programming in our lifelong learning program. Applications are due April 15.

• Discover Wu Haoyu’s journey in ‘New Stoneware: A Novel Path of Ceramic Art Creation.’ This article unveils how Haoyu blurs the boundaries between tradition and modernity, presenting a novel avenue for ceramic art expression by recreating natural stones (albite).

• A-B Projects is offering New Wave Scholarships that cover enrollment in their monthly Studio Sessions for 2024. These are open to applicants who self-identify as having financial need. Studio Sessions is an online platform where artists working in clay gather under the guidance of a lead artist to create material experiments centered around particular topics. Karl Burkheimer will host next month’s session.

• Book recommendation: The Cracked Potter by Izzi Abrahmson. The book tells the story of Nava Ortlieb, who moves to The Village and establishes her pottery business. She runs afoul of and then becomes friends with Shoshana Cantor, the merchant’s wife. It is a lovely and warm story inspired by the author’s experience as a pottery widower.

• HB381 Gallery (New York) is pleased to announce THE INBETWEEN, an exhibition of new ceramic sculptures by Shozo Michikawa, which will open on March 8. The artist will hold a lecture and live demonstration at the gallery on Saturday, March 9, at 2 pm. You’re invited!

• What’s On View: Small Works, Great Artists is on view at Erskine, Hall & Coe, London / Alfred Lowe: The Gathering is on view at Sabbia Gallery, Sydney / Clémentine Dupré and Thierry Boutemy: Un grain de grenade is on view at Camoufleur Gallery, Lille / Aya Murata: In Bloom is on view at Lucy Lacoste Gallery, Boston / The Great Ceramics Show #4 is on view at No Limits Art Castle, Amsterdam / Marek Cecula: Disintegration is on view at the Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center, Tel Aviv / High Fired II is on view at Galerie Franzis Engels, Amsterdam / Se Oh: Elegies (Chapter II: The Witnesses) is on view at Stroll Garden, Los Angeles