This next week promises to be a busy one for local potters, or at least for me.
I’d like to get out to the Museum of Anthropology at UBC on Tuesday afternoon to attend the launch of Ceramic Curator Carol Mayer’s new book on the Koerner Ceramic Collection. I have taken the invitation below from the BC Potters’ Guild newsletter.
You are invited to a book launch at MOA
by Carol Mayer
Please join us for the launch of The Discerning Eye: The Walter C. Koerner Collection of European ceramics by Carol E. Mayer, MOA Curator, NW Ceramics Foundation Board Member and Life Member of the Potters Guild of BC. Published by Figure 1 Publishing, this book showcases one of the most exquisite collections of European ceramics in North America. Born in Moravia in 1889, Walter C. Koerner fled his homeland shortly before the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. After immigrating to Canada, he became one of UBC’s most significant benefactors, donating his collection of ceramics to MOA in 1988. Today, the Koerner Ceramics Gallery is a testament to elegance, craftsmanship, and the beauty of everyday objects, as well as a reflection of the complex socio-political forces at work throughout four centuries of European history.
The launch will take place Tuesday, Feb. 17, 5 to 7 p.m. There will be a short tour of the gallery followed by a reception.
Then, of course, we have TriCity Potters’ monthly meeting on Wednesday at Port Moody Arts Centre. This will be a ‘hands-on’ evening, so come prepared to get clay on your hands. We plan to look at some photos of porcelain flower-making in Jingdezhen and then show each other all our own ways of creating flowers. You will be given some clay to experiment with and to take home and finish as you please. Bring any ceramic flowers you have in your collection – ones you’ve bought or acquired or made, antique or contemporary, and be prepared to show your fellow potters how you may have made some. This evening is, of course, inspired by the hugely successful installation of thousands of red ceramic poppies at the Tower of London last Fall.
The North-West Ceramics Foundation is pleased to announce Jasna Sokolovic and Noel O’Connell as featured speakers at a free public lecture Thursday, Feb. 19, at 7:30 p.m. Drawing on their shared history, Sokolovic and O’Connell will discuss their design philosophy, projects and migration towards an entirely collaborative practice. The lecture will be held in Room 245 in the North Building of Emily Carr University of Art + Design (1399 Johnston Street, Granville Island, Vancouver). All are welcome and encouraged to attend.
The rest of this article by Amy Gogarty can be read in the February BCPG newsletter.
And on Friday there is a presentation at SFU Harbour Centre, downtown Vancouver, all about Tanba Japanese Pottery. Years ago a friend sent me a charming little Temmoku-glazed vase from Tamba and it’s been fun to take it out of the display cabinet and enjoy it this week in anticipation of Friday’s lecture. (I’m assuming Tanba and Tamba are the same pottery district).
The World of Tanba Pottery
The Consulate General of Japan Presents
Japanese Ceramics: The World of Tanba Pottery
Presented by the Consulate General of Japan
Presentation by Artist Takeshi Shimizu
Tanba 丹波国 An old province of Japan encompassing a mountainous region in both the central part of modern Kyoto Prefecture and the east-central part of Hyōgo Prefecture.
Tanbayaki 丹波焼 One of six ancient potteries of Japan, dating back over 800 years. Well-known for its simplicity and the beauty of its natural glaze.
The Consulate General of Japan Presents Japanese Ceramics: The World of Tanba Pottery. Presentation by Artist Takeshi Shimizu.
Learn about Japanese culture through Tanba Pottery (Tanbayaki). Mr. Takeshi Shimizu explains the history of Tanbayaki, its relationship to the Japanese way of thinking and its influence on pottery around the world. A display of the artists work will be included.
Mr. Shimizu was born in Tanba Tachikui, Hyogo Prefecture, the home of Tanbayaki. He has a passion for creating a new style of Tanba Pottery, based on tradition. His work has received several awards and appeared in may exhibitions, including, most recently, the Gwangju Biennale and the Kobe Biennale Competition of Modern Ceramic Art. Event details:
Friday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m.
SFU Harbour Centre, Room 7000
555 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC
FREE ADMISSION Reservations requested: event@vc.mofa.go.jp www.vancouver.ca.emb-japan.go.jp
