The week’s news in the ceramic art world – September 5, 2023

• We just published the 2024 calendar of ceramic competitions, biennales, festivals, and fairs. There are currently 13 listed events, including four international competitions with ongoing applications, with more to be announced soon.

• Submissions for the 5th Officine Saffi Award (Italy) are open until November 9. Selected artists can win the First Prize of 10,000 Euro, a Young Artists Prize of 5,000 Euro, and 6 Residency Awards developed in collaboration with international institutions. The award theme is (un)Known Territories.

• Applications for the Concurs International de Ceràmica de l’Alcora (Spain) are open until November 30. Selected artists have a chance to win the 1st Prize (€7,000), 2nd Prize (€5,000), and the Caja Rural Award (€3,000).

• The first edition of the Big Blue Dot Contemporary Ceramics Biennale in Santorini (Greece) is accepting applications until December 3. Just 20 artists will be selected for this edition.

• The 13th edition of the International Ceramics Competition MINO, Japan (within the International Ceramics Festival MINO ’24) accepts applications until the end of January. This is a major event, with prizes totaling over $88,000. The competition theme is The Future of Ceramics.

• The main event of the 4th Latvia Ceramics Biennale: Troubled Waters is taking off this week. The International Contemporary Ceramics Competition MARTINSONS AWARD 2023 will open on September 8 at the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre. I am honored to be part of the jury for this edition. See you in Daugavpils!

• The Art Gallery of Burlington (Ontario) is hosting an online artist talk with Brian Kohl and Linda Swanson tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET. Titled Future: Clay at the End of the World, this talk with members of NCECA’s Green Task Force will share solutions for implementing the reduce/reuse/recycle triangle in a clay studio to understand the environmental impact of artistic production and how to make changes in studio practices that will lessen the carbon footprint.

• Read Emma S. Ahmad’s article, Cerámica Suro: An Unorthodox Journey to Collecting, and step inside the Dallas Contemporary’s monumental exhibition to experience how Cerámica Suro has reinvented itself from a family business into a hub of artistic collaboration. With over 150 artworks on display, the exhibition is an eclectic curation of internationally renowned and local emerging artists.

• Join artists Sam Lucas and Laura Johanna König, with Tessa Peters as chair for Clay in Conversation 5: Difference, the fifth in a series of conversations curated by artist Julia Ellen Lancaster, presenting artists working with clay and ceramics. Each conversation centers on a specific theme – acting as a lens through which the artists will present a single piece of work or project. A Q&A session with the audience follows the presentations. The event will be held at the University of Westminster, London, on September 22.

• Northern Clay Center is pleased to announce the 2023 recipients of the McKnight Artist Fellowships for Ceramic Artists: Chotsani Elaine Dean (Minneapolis, MN) and Anna Metcalfe (Minneapolis, MN). Also selected by this year’s panelists are the recipients of the McKnight Artist Residency for Ceramic Artists: Larry Buller (New York, NY), Karima Duchamp (Lake Dallas, TX), Joon Hee Kim (Bakersville, NC), and Ellen Kleckner (Wroclaw, Poland).

• Creativity Explored (San Francisco) is hiring a Teaching Artist – Ceramics / Alfred Ceramic Art Museum (New York) is hiring an Assistant Director / Curator

• The Leach Pottery (St. Ives, UK) is inviting applications for a unique residency that aims to identify what local materials look like today and analyze their sustainability. They are looking for a practitioner or researcher from pottery, craft, or design backgrounds interested in discovering what materials may be available in the countryside and towns near St Ives, logging and interrogating this data, and making preliminary material tests. Accommodation and a research stipend of £1,600 is offered. Applications close September 24.

• What’s On View: The Root Collection: Celebrating Studio Ceramics is on view at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis / Islands of Desire is on view at Kunstforum Solothurn, Solothurn / Changing Frame: Artists in Residence is on view at the Academy of Ceramics Gmunden, Linz / Jeweled Earth: Niki Ford & Jieun Reiner is on view at La Loma Projects, Los Angeles / Broken Boundaries: Andrea Éva Szőcs and Georgiana Cozma is on view at Galateea Contemporary Art, Bucharest / Ceramics Invitational: Shaping the Future of Contemporary Ceramics in South Africa is on view at FADA Gallery, Johannesburg / Kristin McKirdy opens this week at Pierre Marie Giraud, Brussels / Michele Edinger: Entangled Anatomy is on view at Sabbia Gallery, Sydney / Between Things: Alberta Ceramics is on view at the Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton