Daugavpils will host an international festival of contemporary ceramics Culture news

22.07.2022, 12:14 977

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Daugavpils will host an international festival of contemporary ceramics

From 26 to 29 July, Daugavpils will host the International Contemporary Ceramics Festival 2022, delivering a vibrant programme of lectures, master classes, performances and exhibitions.

Summer is the festival season when multiple consecutive events can be enjoyed for days in a row. This summer, ceramicists and art lovers gather in Daugavpils for the International Contemporary Ceramics Festival 2022.

The festival programme is rich in demonstrations, public lectures and presentations. Its central event is the 10th-anniversary edition of the Ceramic Laboratory Symposium, which will offer art lovers multiple opportunities to engage with ceramics – see new artworks being fired in the kilns, watch the kilns being opened after firing and observe ceramicists at work in public demonstrations.

The festival will culminate on 29 July with a series of free-access activities. At 4 p.m., two exhibitions will be opened at the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre – the closing exhibition of the Ceramic Laboratory Symposium and a group show of Polish contemporary ceramics, “The Matter of Space”.

An hour before the opening, at 3 p.m., the curator and art historian (PhD candidate from the University of Gdańsk) Marta Wróblewska (Poland) will give a lecture on contemporary Polish ceramics. After a necessary break due to the exhibition opening, the lecture series at the Rothko Centre’s conference hall will resume at 5 p.m., introducing the public to contemporary ceramic trends in Latvia’s neighbouring countries.

Shortly after sundown, at 10 p.m., the artist duo of Delia Maxim (Romania) and Josef Islay (Hungary) will give an audio-visual performance “Polywaves” in the Martinsons House courtyard. The festival will close at 11 p.m. with a fire sculpture show by the Latvian ceramicist Elīna Titāne.

The festival has brought together fourteen artists from seven countries: Rasa Justaitė Gecevičienė (Lithuania), Ingrid Allik (Estonia), Alicja Buławka Fankidejska (Poland), Dmitrij Buławka Fankidejski (Poland), Marta Wróblewska (Poland), Delia Maxim (Romania) and Josef Islay (Hungary); from Latvia – Elīna Titāne, Lauris Krauze, Hanna Miadzvedzeva, Una Gura, Lilija Zeiļa, Nellija Dzalba and Ilona Abdulajeva. The festival team also includes an artist from Ukraine – Andrii Ilinskiy.

Festival programme

The ceramic festival is organised by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Ceramics in cooperation with the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre within the EU project “Cross-Border Loyalty Programme for Stimulating Culture and Tourism”. The project is funded by the EU within the European Neighbourhood Instrument. The content of this article is the sole responsibility of the Daugavpils City Council and does not reflect the views of the European Union.

Financial supporters: EU project “Cross-Border Loyalty Programme for Stimulating Culture and Tourism”, State Culture Capital Foundation, Latgale Region Development Agency, Latvia’s State Forests, Daugavpils City Council, Caparol, Keramserviss.