This past summer marked the return of the International Ceramics Festival, or ICF, to the beautiful coastal town of Aberystwyth, Wales. One of Europe’s premier ceramics symposiums, this year’s festival welcomed over 1000 visitors from June 30th to July 2nd. While the event is always a highlight for ceramic artists in the UK and abroad, this year felt extra special as it marked its first return to an in-person festival since 2019, due to the pandemic.  

There was palpable excitement in the air as ceramic artists and enthusiasts filled the great hall of the Aberystwyth Arts Centre. Some people were reuniting for the first time after the lockdown years, eager to update each other on how their work had progressed or been impacted by the ordeal, while many others were making instant new friends and meeting future collaborators, all bonding over their love for this fantastic material we call clay.  

The weekend started off with a lovely opening ceremony, hosted by the event’s seasoned MCs and fellow ceramicists Jim Robison and Ingrid Murphy, who introduced the impressive panel of presenters, further raising the anticipation for the following day’s events.

And there was no shortage of events! The festival hosted 19 presenting artists and academics from the UK and around the world. This included Halima Cassell (UK/Pakistan), Kaan Canduran & Aziz Baha Orken (Turkey), Zoe Preece (Wales), Sergei Isupov (Estonia/USA), Theodora Chorafas (Greece), and Toni Losey (Canada), to name just a few. Most presented a lecture about their practice as well as 1-2 demonstrations of their process, which was a fantastic scheduling decision. There was no fear of having to choose between two of your favorite artists; if there was an overlap, you could catch the other person’s second presentation the next day!  

The lectures were presented in the intimate cinema space, while the demonstrations were in the Great Hall. Most of the demos featured artist pairings, where two artists worked side by side, taking turns explaining their process and working. Generally this worked great, as it avoided moments of silence, but sometimes the pairing didn’t fit quite well from a technical standpoint. This was the case with Sergei Isupov and Adam Keeling, as the noise of Adam’s torch often drowned out Sergei’s voice. Otherwise though, the pairing method made for very dynamic demos with a great rhythm. All of the demos were also live-streamed for clay artists around the world who couldn’t attend in person.

For those who needed to take a break from all the sitting indoors, there were two kiln-building events on the outside grounds. Kaan Canduran & Aziz Baha Orken had spent the week prior to the event building a large scale sculpture which they then constructed a custom raku kiln for. They then fired it over the course of the weekend. It was opened to much excitement and awe Saturday night, with the successfully fired piece raffled off at the end of the event. On the other side of the site, Wales’ own Joe Finch constructed a soda kiln, suffering through Wales’ customary wind and rain with impressive determination to get it loaded and started in time for the festival opening. It, too, was unloaded with great anticipation and success. 

Also outside were a number of tents featuring vendors, student demonstrations, and hands-on events. This included a demonstrators’ tent, which was one of the highlights of the event. All of the presenting artists had stations in the tent to continue working on their demonstration pieces, while visitors could come in and watch up close, and ask questions one-on-one. It was incredibly informative, giving people the opportunity to talk to artists they aspire to, while offering the opportunity to learn new tips and tricks in a more intimate setting. 

There were a number of exhibitions within the Centre for the course of the weekend, featuring a breadth of works across all styles, scale, and approaches. The festival is organized by the Aberystwyth Arts Centre in conjunction with North Wales Potters and South Wales Potters, and both potter groups had exhibitions of their members’ work. Presented alongside them was the New and Emerging Makers exhibition, which featured four artists from across the UK (Anastassia Zamaraeva, Rhiannon Gwyn, Jean White, and Stefanie Smith). From this exhibition, Wales’ Rhiannon was voted Viewers’ Favorite for her sensitive sculptures that combine fired Welsh slate with delicate porcelain vessels. Also on display was a beautiful exhibition featuring works of the demonstrators, and the fantastically curated Natural Connections exhibition featuring the works of four artists (Halima Cassell, Jane Perryman, Sian Lester and Carine Van Gestel) whose practices are inspired by the physical world – local and global – and who all use clay in an unglazed state. 

As you can imagine, this was a truly jam-packed weekend of all things ceramic! The weekend flew by in a whirlwind of activities, and was very much a celebration of clay and the people it gathers. Among all of the demonstrations, kiln firings, and exhibitions, the greatest part of the festival was by far the connections it fostered. After two years of little-to-no ceramic events, going to the ICF felt like a re-emergence, with artists coming out of the isolation of the home studio and into the grand, welcoming community that is ceramics. If you’ve ever contemplated the value of attending ceramic symposiums or festivals, this is definitely their biggest benefit. No matter what your level of experience, attending a ceramics gathering will introduce you to new artists and techniques, foster new connections and friendships, and reignite your excitement for your craft!

If you missed out on this event, you may be happy to know that a couple of the presenters have done workshops with The Ceramic School! If you’d like to learn some of their techniques, check out Sergei Isupov’s Sculpture as Canvas, and Jean White’s Low tech plaster and slip casting for the home studio.