54th Premio Faenza International Ceramic Art Competition
In June 2005 I travelled to Faenza, Italy to attend the opening of the 54th Premio Faenza International Ceramic Art Competition as a finalist and to receive the Premier Acquisition Award. The 96 competition finalists were selected from 1939 works by 865 artists from 62 nations, initially by slide and then by a jury of international art and ceramic academics, curators, critics and practitioners, including Fabio Benzi, Sueharu Fukami, Kurt Spurey, Franz Stahler, Biljana Vukotic, Franco Bertoni and Jadranka Bentini.
Faenza is an interesting town located in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. This is rich agricultural land and has a reputation as a gastronomic centre. It is a town of Etruscan/Roman origins and is known for its ceramics – its ancient tradition dates back to the 12th century and reached a peak of artistic significance during the Renaissance. The tradition and culture of ceramics remain central to modern Faenza with its international museum containing one of the largest collections of ceramics in the world. The global culture of ceramics is shown at the museum in a display spanning centuries. Contemporary Italian and international art by important artists of the 20th century is also represented. It has a specialist library (holding more then 50,000 volumes devoted to ceramics) a restoration studio and school. The museum was founded by Gaetano Ballardini in 1908. The development of contemporary Italian ceramics has been documented from the 1930s onwards through the annual Faenza prize competition and international ceramics was similarly documented from 1960s on.
The main aim of the international competition of contemporary ceramic art is “to stimulate the research and renewal of techniques, materials, form and expressive methods of ceramic practice”. Gaetano Ballardini highlighted the need to hold international competitions for ceramic production from the artistic and technical viewpoint.
In the 2005 competition there were 12 prizes awarded, among them three main prizes, the Premio Faenza of 26000, the premier acquisition prize of 10000, an acquisition prize of 8000 and another nine awards consisting of medals and plaques. The awards ceremony took place on June 10 in the courtyard of the museum on a perfect summer’s evening. I was excited to have work that had become part of the museum collection and to be presented with an award. The event fostered dialogue among participating artists, critics, magazine editors and collectors who had travelled from all over the world to attend. The cross-fertilisation of ideas and skills formed a significant contribution to my art practice.
Equally as important, in my mind, was representing not only myself but Australian ceramics in general. It was rewarding to realise the high regard in which many of our artists, writers and curators are held. It was also inspiring to meet people with a passion for ceramic art practice. Not only the other artists but the jurors, the sponsors, local government and the entire museum staff.
The ‘Premio Faenza’ award was shared by two artists: Tomoko Kawakami from Japan with the work Silence I and Silence II and the Argentinian artist Silvia Zotta who lives in Italy with the work Mibarrioeraasi … Asi … Asi … Esdecir …Queseyosieraasi … Peroyomeloacuerdoasi (Night in my district). The jury chose the split prize because together they represented a unity of creativity and technical advance. The jury commented that Tomoko Kawakami’s work has been considered worthy of first place for her abit. ity to “condense an expression of extreme simplicity into a material of great delicacy and thinness and for the unique effect of depth expressed by the successful contrast between the outer surface and the inner void”. Silvia Zotta’s work displayed “formal are chromatic control of its numerous plastic elements springing from a playful interpretation of tradition and revealing an awareness of and active participation in the most recent artistic developments.”
My work Still Life, which received the premier acquisition award, was selected for “its ability to transfer to the ceramic technique a sensitivity of pictorial dimension in the extreme essentiality of the media used, and in an effective use of allusive but never descriptive forms”
The acquisition prize presented to Kenichi Harayama from Japan for the work Root Down was considered to merit third prize for “its monumental character and material sensitiveness of forms achieved with considerable technical skill, giving the surfaces a particular chiaroscuro vibrancy”. The award winning works were strong conceptually and technically, bridging gaps between ‘art’ and ‘craft’.
There were numerous works in the exhibition that explored the relationship of space and environment including Silvia Zotta’s winning installation. Earth Inscription by Rina Peleg, Waterlive by Ljubica Jocic, Dodona by Doina Adam and Non Sono Le perle che fanno la collana ma il filo by Silvia Zagni (silver medal winner) were among works which explored the relationships between the artwork, floor, wall and installation devices. Several other works utilised the wall space alone. Va at Werk by Elly De Goede and Der Lauf Der Zehn Dinge a porcelain work by Sonja Duo-Mever were among the successful pieces
Artists that explored the vessel form included Tony Lattimere with his award-winning dancing fluid forms Pregnant Silence. Andrea Hylands, who was awarded a gold medal for her pinched oval vessels, Back to Back and the porcelain bowl Form of Rays by Akio Niisato who was also awarded a gold medal.
Sculptural objects included Titania Henderson’s delicate slab forms, Hans Fisher’s award winning biomorphic work Beginn and Susan Robey’s untitled (yellow, black line). The industry award went to Srdjan Vukajlovics Recyclables Series which were thought provoking works constructed from broken commercial shards. Kyoko Horis’ fluid porcelain sculpture Nest of Breathing won a silver award.
My own work Still Life was installed on a series of shelves that jutted out from the wall. A white on white play on the grid where the individual pieces could be viewed on their own or as a gestalt, setting up a series of relationships and juxtapositions between each of the 10 individual forms. The works were made over many months and are part of my ongoing investigations into the reinterpretation of domestic objects such as kitchen utensils and domestic hardware. They were constructed by pinching coils of white stoneware clay and glazed several times to achieve a velvet-like surface.
Many styles and techniques were represented showing an amazing diversity, some artists taking breathtaking conceptual and technical risks.
The competition exhibition was arranged with sufficient space and light for all the works. Held on two levels it was a impressive achievement. I felt fortunate to attend the opening and spend time at the museum. It enabled me to understand the context of the competition and to view my work with some objectivity. However, it was making contact with the jurors, fellow artists and curators. The ensuing conversations were a most important part of the experience.
It was an overwhelming exhibition and I find it difficult to convey in words the ‘feel’ for both the individual works and the entire exhibition. I would defer to the images in the excellent catalogue and CD Rom available from the museum.
I urge ceramic artists to submit work for the competition and, if at all possi-ble, to attend the event. The museum is inspiring, the exhibition space, the curation, selection and display of the competition certainly marks it as one of the premier ceramic world events.
Lynda Draper
TITANIA HENDERSON 