Ceramics News Briefs International

ENGLAND: Wedgwood Museum closure condemned by Unesco, The Guardian- Considering the effort England has been making to restore its battered pottery industry, I was surprised to see that it was willing to close a UNESCO site based on the same industry…especially, since the museum is located in Stoke-on-Trent. Boggles the mind. The museum’s collection houses “one of the most complete ceramic manufacturing archives in the world,” according to the story. Evidently, the decision pivots on something that is about as far removed from our minds as it  can get: pensions. Click on the link to read more….

INDIA: It’s a big story. It involves business magnates, labor, poverty, violence, death, and South Asia. (And the West’s reliance on cheap goods and the social cost involved.) I cannot begin to tell you the full extent of the story, but can piece together a few things. I am not sure what new sources to trust, which “voice” to trust and don’t know the story behind the story. Here are some links for you to read if you want to know more about what has happened with Regency Ceramics:

• Puducherry MLAs demand CBI probe, Deccan Chronicle, 2/5/12
• Regency Ceramics locks out Yanam factory, Post Noon, 2/1/12
• Indian workers kill their boss following the murder of a union leader, Libcom blog, 1/29/12
• Yanam Burning: Regency Ceramics VP, Employees Leader Dead, Telugu One, 1/27/12
• India Factory Workers Revolt, Kill Company President, Forbes, 1/27/12

UNITED STATES: A Kiln That Fires, and Teaches, New York Times – This particular wood fired anagama kiln holds 300 to 500 pieces and, when fired, reaches 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. “The 14-foot-long tunnel-like oven, made mostly of brick and concrete, is the only one of its type on Long Island.” The director of the ceramics program at Adelphi University helped build the kiln. Pieces by students from four different institutions were fired in this kiln, work now on display in an exhibition at Adephi that runs through Feb. 20th. The article outlines the trials endured as the kiln was readied and remedied.

ENGLAND: Emmanuel Cooper, The Telegraph – Born in December, 1938 in Derbyshire, Cooper set up his first studio in London in 1965. He said the setting suited him, as it was “redolent with all the fervour and excitement of the swinging sixties, and the alternative society.” After making utilitarian pieces for restaurants for 20 years, Cooper decided to give up “series production and concentrate on the individual pieces for which he is now best known.” Openly gay, some of his work could be considered gay activist art. Also a writer who penned many books on ceramics, Cooper was the recipient of many awards and was appointed OBE in 2002.

 

 

Tags: anagama kiln, art exhibition, art news, Ceramics, England news, India news, news briefs, pottery, Regency Ceramics, United States news