An international team of artists came to Kaunas to create artworks from bone china. The ceramic workshop of the VDA Kaunas faculty for this period becomes a creative platform for experiments and creativity,. This year’s theme – “Porcelain city” is dedicated to the history of porcelain in the city of Kaunas, closely related to the fine ceramics factory “Jiesia”, the place where the first bone china symposiums began. The participants will reflect on the topics of post-industrial ceramic art and design, the results of their creations will be available at the Kaunas Central Post Office, the opening of the exhibition is planned on September 29, 2022.
The participants of this year’s bone china symposium are world-renowned ceramicists and visual artists Sabrina Basten (Germany), Monika Patuszynska (Poland), Alison Safford (USA), Janina Myronova (Poland/Ukraine), Jurgita Jasinskaitė (Lithuania), Ming-Miao Ko (Belgium), Jānis Kupčs (Latvia), Viktória Maróti, (Hungary), Liudas Parulskis (Lithuania). During the symposium the artists will present their work at the “Artists TALKS” , on August 4, 9 and 11 at the Faculty of VDA Kaunas, The creative process will be available to anyone who wants to (only with prior registration), open porcelain workshops will be held – educational sessions during the exhibition.
The exhibition at the post office will be accompanied by a thematic exposition reviewing the history of Kaunas porcelain, porcelain dishes created in “Jiesia” and examples of small edition designs, dishes and service projects created by the Department of Ceramics and Porcelain of the Kaunas Art Institute. This exhibition, named “Bone porcelain design in Lithuania – “Jiesia” research”, is curated by dr. Rokas Dovydėnas. The exhibition covers the factory’s short period of prosperity from 1978, when the first bone china dishes were produced, to 2006. factory bankruptcy.
Bone china is one of the most valued types of porcelain. It contains refractory kaolin, feldspar, sand and calcium extracted from cattle bone ash. This is what determines the name and properties of bone china: it is extremely strong, translucent and white. Very thin products can be made from it, but at the same time it is a very whimsical material that requires professional technical skills. Symposium organizing team: project manager Giedrė Petkevičiūtė, curators Assoc. prof. Remigijus Sederevičius, dr. Ieva Bertašiūtė Grosbaha, Maris Grosbahs, dr. Rokas Dovydėnas.
The project is organized by the Kaunas Faculty of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, financed by the Lithuanian Council of Culture and the project partner – Kaunas European Capital of Culture 2022.