Jack Troy on tue 13 aug 96
After a lengthy hiatus from ClayArt, soon, regrettably, to be resumed,
I want to submit a bit of the introduction to a piece I've been working on.
If you've any interest in going to China to work for several weeks as well
as to travel on a ceramics-related juggernaut, I can recommend the program
in which I participated. It's not too early to begin saving up.
"If even one Chinese master potter in, say, 1600, could have been shanghaied,
taken to Europe, and put to work in a pottery, the whole history of Western
ceramic art might have been altered." Daniel Rhodes, Stoneware and Porcelain.
Let me preface what follows by saying that in 1991 I participated in the
International Workshop in Ceramic Art (IWCAT) in Tokoname, Japan, and found the
experience so rewarding that I made a pact with myself to include a measure of
international travel in my work schedule whenever possible, and the past year
was especially enriching, with trips to Australia, Scotland, and England, but
visiting China, the only country whose name is synonymous with a type of
ceramics, was, for me, a particularly sumptuous banquet of impressions.
For 6 weeks - all of June and half of July - I accompanied a group of ceramists
to China, under the auspices of West Virginia University and Alfred University.
20 of us - 18 from the U. S. and 2 from Japan - lived for a month in Jingdezhen,
a city of about 300,000, properly known as "The Porcelain Capitol of the World."
The trip proved an opportunity for growth through adaptation of one sort or
another: cultural, linguistic, culinary, and interpersonal as well as those
relating to ceramics. I can honestly say that not a single day passed when I
wished to be elsewhere. I know for certain that each of us in the group would
recount the experience very differently; mine is just one participant's version.
Staying in a hotel on the grounds of the Jiangxi Provincial Ceramic Research
Institute, we worked in several studios, visited local museums and ancient kiln
sites, and took field trips, often to remote villages where our Western faces
quickly became the featured entree on the visual menu. After our stay in
Jingdezhen, we traveled for 2 weeks by train and bus to Xian, the heart of
China's political and artistic history, and to Beijing, visiting museums and
sites of cultural interest. A first-of-its-kind venture, the program is
scheduled, probably with some modification, to be an annual event.
The K-factor was about $4K for basics, including airfare from Pittsburgh
($1050 return - cheap!), with mabye another thou for this and that. It was,
really, about the most amazing ceramics-related thing I've done since learning
to throw nearly 35 years ago.
The contact person is Bob Anderson, Division of Art,P. O. Box 6111, West
Virginia University, Morgantown, WVA 26506-6111. As I understand it, Wayne
Higby will lead next year's group.
Jack Troy
Timothy Dean Malm on wed 14 aug 96
The adventure in China sounds exciting. I too was a participant at IWCAT
(International Workshop in Ceramic Arts at Tokoname) but in '87. This
past spring I was fortunate to be in residence as a visiting prof. at the
University of Ulster at Belfast, Northern Ireland. I don't think anything
informs one of their own cultural expectations more than living and
working abroad. A student of mine asked me today, "Where are you going to
go next time?" China ?
Tim Malm
Seattle Pacific University
Janet DeBoos on thu 15 aug 96
Thanks for your "tidbit". I am going to China in November to Yixing to make
teapots and am so-ooo excited. so any information about the country or
other opportunities to visit there are greatfully received. The symposium I
am attending is organised by a Taiwanese Ceramics Magazine. We are just
winding up the 8th National Ceramic Conference here in Canberra where we
had Prof. Zhang Shouzhi from Beijing Academy present a paper and I am
hoping that I might be able to catch up with him whilst I am there. Sorry I
didn't catch up with you when you were in Australia- I have your book on
saltglaze and would have liked to meet. Janet (Mansfield) always speaks
highly of you.
Regards Janet DeBoos
M. S. Davis on thu 15 aug 96
At the International Festival of potters in Aberystwyth, Wales, last year
two Yixing potters, Yang Quinfang and Zhou Dingfang, demonstrated the
ancient construction of Yixing teapots. Their comments were translated
by Peter Wain, a British historian of art, I believe, who was responsible
for their presence at this wonderful gathering of potters from all over
the world. Peter Wain also conducts and guides fabulous pottery trips to
China.
The Yixing potters were most apologetic about the haste needed (only
several hours) to produce their pots within the small time span allowed.
In their own environment it may take months to fashion a small
teapot which is also includes the proper religious rites and ablutions.
Morris Davis
Chapel Hill, NC
msd@unc.edu
On Thu, 15 Aug 1996, Janet DeBoos wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Thanks for your "tidbit". I am going to China in November to Yixing to make
> teapots and am so-ooo excited. so any information about the country or
> other opportunities to visit there are greatfully received. The symposium I
> am attending is organised by a Taiwanese Ceramics Magazine. We are just
> winding up the 8th National Ceramic Conference here in Canberra where we
> had Prof. Zhang Shouzhi from Beijing Academy present a paper and I am
> hoping that I might be able to catch up with him whilst I am there. Sorry I
> didn't catch up with you when you were in Australia- I have your book on
> saltglaze and would have liked to meet. Janet (Mansfield) always speaks
> highly of you.
> Regards Janet DeBoos
>
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