Ric Swenson on fri 14 mar 08
Ni Hao to everyone. I hope this missal finds you all well and happy. Ma=
ny of you will attend NCECA soon. Have a great time there. I understand th=
at JingDeZhen Ceramic Institute will sponsor some conference activities in =
October 2008 here in China, so I hope some of you can come visit and explor=
e the City of Porcelain. 150 days until the Summer Games in Bejing. All =
the venues are now finished and most have test field tested from what I hea=
r on CCTV-9, the International TV station. When I was there last summer fo=
r two months, the Chinese still had a lot of construction to finish, but no=
w it looks like they are ready. The students here, Art and English and Intl=
. Trade students as well as engineering students are all pretty excited abo=
ut the Olympics....especially the basketball. The Chinese also just finishe=
d work on their new air terminal in Beijing. World's largest... 1.3 millio=
n square meters under roof. News lately on the TV has been mainly about th=
e Olympics and the new leaders of the government. Their elections have jus=
t ended. They seem to me to be more and more democratic in their actions. =
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Weather here is starting to look and feel like Spring. I listen to the bi=
ckering of the blackbirds and the songs of many small birds each morning...=
along with those roosters that crow the new day to life. Foggy this mornin=
g and the bus that takes teachers and some students to the new campus a few=
miles away was slower than usual because of the lack of visibility. A lot=
of horn blowing and a few near misses. Traffic is busy here, but nothing =
like ShangHai , Beijing, L.A. or Atlanta. I still enjoy riding my old bicyc=
le around town and around the campus area. The serial number....if I read =
it correctly dates the bike 1969. As I have mentioned, it cost me all of $=
11.00 USD, came with a new seat, basket and brakes....it's black and old an=
d ugly....so no one wants to steal it....but I lock it up when I park it an=
yway. Norwegian potter Charles Michalsen is here working on a big clay p=
roject and staying here at the Institute. He is Assoc. Prof at Bergen Art I=
nstitute and worked last year with Norwegian and Chinese students on a big =
project called the GLOBAL TABLE...a look at how we dine and what we serve o=
ur food on....and how....Conceptual works that are interesting to view and =
would be very interesting to participate in. He gave the weekly talk at th=
e 'Pottery Workshop' last night. The GLOBAL TABLE and THE ARTS OF MULTIPLI=
CATION. The slide (CD) lectures are usually in English and then translated =
for the large crowd of Chinese students that attend each Friday's show. =20
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It's always interesting to meet the foreigners that are working at the Pott=
ery Workshop...about a ten minute walk from the old campus. Caroline Cheng =
has workshops and galleries in Hong Kong, ShangHai, JingDeZhen and now in B=
eijing too. Her facilities cater to foreign, European, Canadian, Australian=
and Chinese clay artists. Room, Board and excellent studio access cost abo=
ut $300. per week. A real bargain for the value you get IMHO. The JingDe=
Zhen Ceramic Institute (University) celebrates it's founding in 1958 this s=
pring. Fifty years is not so long in the history of Ceramics here in JDZ, b=
ut the entire campus is humming with activities to celebrate the occasion. =
There will be speech competitions in English on the theme of ceramics and J=
DZ, foreign films shown for the students, lectures by foreign and local cer=
amists, and many more activities on both campuses. The 14,000 students get=
pretty excited about meeting foreigners here and having a chance to see co=
ntemporary work done elsewhere. The faculty of some 300, has a wide range o=
f skills and there will be exhibits of faculty and student work for the nex=
t three months. The website for JCI is listed below. My own aliform wor=
k continues....I draw everyday and dream up ideas to extend my knowledge of=
alary (wing shaped) forms. It's still a bit chilly in the studio, so I lo=
ok forward to getting muddy soon....as the weather warms. A book was publi=
shed by Wu Yi Shan University and I was given several copies recently. It =
documents the work we did last November there during our conference and wor=
kshop sessions during the International Conference at Wu Yi Shan. Lots of g=
ood memories of our work and socializing with the many South Korean, Japane=
se and Chinese clay craftspeople. The works we donated to the University t=
here will form the backbone of their new museum. All the best, Ric =
"...then fiery expedition be my wing, ..." -Wm. Shakespeare, RICHARD III, =
Act IV Scene III Richard H. ("Ric") Swenson, Teacher, Office of Internatio=
nal Cooperation and Exchange of Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, TaoYang Road,=
Eastern Suburb, Jingdezhen City.JiangXi Province, P.R. of China. Postal co=
de 333001. Mobile/cellular phone : 86 13767818872 < RicSwenson0823@hotmail.=
com> http://www.jci.jx.cn/
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