Design & Crafts Council Ireland is delighted to present Land/Marks, the fourth in Ceramics Ireland’s triennial exhibition series, which opens from Wednesday, 15th February until Saturday, 20th May 2023 at the National Craft & Design Gallery, Co Kilkenny. Land/Marks celebrates the diverse range and breadth of contemporary ceramic work being created by makers from Ireland.
The exhibition includes a variety of sculptural forms, functional vessels and installation-based works that explore and challenge the material clay, investigating its malleability and pushing its boundaries. An independent expert panel selected 42 makers for this iteration of the triennial series, which celebrates the craftsmanship and skills of these contemporary practitioners. The selected group includes both emerging and established makers. The selectors for the 2023 exhibition were Frances Mc Donald (consultant, writer and project manager working across the art, craft and design sectors); Hélène Bremer (Dutch art historian and curator) and Neil Read (ceramic artist); and Elaine Riordan and Tina Byrne curated the exhibition.
Ceramics Ireland launched Land/Marks in Farmleigh Gallery in August of 2020. Covid delayed the planned transition to Italy, but in September 2022 a capsule collection of the exhibition Land/Marks travelled to Argillà Italia – International Ceramics Festival and Market Fair, Faenza. Ireland was featured as the guest country.
Speaking about the launch, Rosemary Steen, CEO of Design & Crafts Council Ireland, said: “Design & Crafts Council Ireland is honoured to be part of Land/Marks and host the Ceramics Ireland exhibition at the National Design & Crafts Gallery in Kilkenny. I was delighted to witness the reception the exhibition received at Argillà Italia in Faenza and am confident that it will continue to travel to many more galleries around the world, showcasing the huge talent of Ireland’s ceramic designers and makers.”
Elaine Riordan, Chair of Ceramics Ireland said: “We feel that having created a selected exhibition with a competitive application, it has set the bar high and succeeded in driving the standard of contemporary Irish ceramic practice to new heights. Irish ceramic makers having earned their place on the international scene.”
Hélène Bremer, Selector for the Land/Marks Exhibition, said: “I am delighted to be a part of the selection panel for Land/Marks and celebrate the opening at the National Craft & Design Gallery. Ireland excels in making the most wonderful ceramics in any desirable form.”
Claudia Casali, Director of Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche MIC, Faenza Italy, said: “The Land / Marks exhibition is a fantastic overview of Irish ceramic production. A great variety of poetic, thematic forms and techniques is expressed and it gives you the idea of the extraordinary potentiality ceramics has today in Ireland. When it was exhibited last September in Faenza (Italy), the public was enthusiastic: it was the best tribute the Festival Argillà ever received in response to the guest country.”
Featured makers in 2023 include: Alison Brent, Frances Brosnan, Cathy Burke, Yasha Butler, Anne Butler, Mike Byrne, Tina Byrne, Mark Campden, Barra Cassidy, Sophie Kate Curran, Jack Doherty, Chloë Dowds, Isobel Egan, Áine Farrelly, Sara Flynn, Adam Frew, Niamh Harte, Jennifer Hickey, Jane Jermyn, Andrea Kavanagh, Alison Kay, Simon Kidd, Michael Kobuladze, Nanette Ledwith, Antonio Julio López Castro, Aisling McElwain, Christopher McHugh, Claire McLaughlin, Deirdre McLoughlin, Kathleen Moroney, Lucy Morrow, Kate O’Kelly, Liselott Olofsson, Mandy Parslow, Elizabeth Petcu, Elaine Riordan, Sarah Roseingrave, Alex Scott, Jane Seymour, Vicki Sutherland, Eleanor Swan, Gráinne Watts.
Land/Marks is produced by Ceramics Ireland and supported by strategic partners Design & Crafts Council Ireland, Office of Public Works and Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche (MIC) Faenza, Italy.
ENDS
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About Design & Crafts Council Ireland
Design & Crafts Council Ireland is the national agency for craft and design in Ireland, we support designers and makers to develop their businesses in a sustainable way, and advocate for the societal benefits of craft and design. DCCI’s activities are funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment via Enterprise Ireland. DCCI currently has 64 member organisations and over 3,500 registered clients.
www.dcci.ie @dccireland
About National Design & Crafts Gallery
Established by Design & Crafts Council Ireland in 2000, the National Design & Craft Gallery is Ireland’s leading centre for contemporary craft and design. It exhibits Irish and international designers, artists and makers who push boundaries in their engagement with the making process. Its mission is to inspire appreciation, creativity and innovation, and it plays a critical role in building understanding of craft and material culture in Ireland. www.ndcg.ie @NDCGallery
About Ceramics Ireland
Mission statement ‘Ceramics Ireland is an impactful membership organisation and this series of exhibitions in tandem with our other activities helps us to prioritise activation, education and promotion of our sector to guarantee the future landscape of ceramics in Ireland, while raising the international profile of Irish ceramics.’ This series of exhibitions is led by curators and ceramicists Elaine Riordan and Tina Byrne.
About OPW and Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche (MIC) Faenza, Italy.
Ceramics Ireland has worked to develop strong relationships with both the Office of Public Works (OPW) and Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche (MIC). It has worked with the staff at the OPW for many years, showcasing Irish ceramics in several of their prestigious venues including, Farmleigh Gallery and the Printworks, Dublin Castle.
Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche (MIC) https://www.micfaenza.org/
MIC is an Internationally renowned ceramics museum, with an extensive collection of historical and contemporary ceramics, in Faenza Italy. Claudia Casali, director of the museum through a long standing connection with the Design & Crafts Council Ireland, visited a Ceramics Ireland exhibition and having experienced firsthand the calibre of the work on show, invited us to participate as guest country in Argillà Italia.
