The British Ceramics Biennial will return to the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent, between September 7 and October 13 – featuring a free weekend festival bus will run between the different venues.
Back for its sixth festival in its spiritual home, the Biennial will once again present work from the UK’s leading contemporary artists in a series of new exhibitions and special events across the city, embracing the heritage of Stoke-on-Trent as the capital of ceramics.
The festival will take place in established venues and non-traditional spaces across the city including the atmospheric China Hall at the original Spode factory site, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Middleport Pottery and World of Wedgwood.
At its very heart, the post-industrial setting of the original Spode factory site in the heart of the city is once again be the main hub of the festival, bringing together 13 exhibitions in the China Hall, alongside live workshop areas where visitors can explore and experience clay for themselves, and an exchange place for buying work and sharing ideas and inspiration.
A free weekend festival bus will run between the different venues, enabling visitors to get around the city to experience the full programme and enjoy many of the cultural attractions of the ceramic city.
The AWARD exhibition at the China Hall in Spode will this year offer a £10,000 prize – the largest single prize for ceramics in the UK – to one of the ten ceramic artists in Britain chosen to exhibit at the Biennial this year.
And ceramics stars of the future will be displaying their work in the FRESH exhibition, which brings together the best of emerging graduate talent from across the UK and Ireland.
Elsewhere, a favourite of the BCB will be returning for 2019, and bringing another touch of ceramic magic to proceedings. Artist Lawrence Epps has delighted visitors to the Biennial in the past, and has a special treat in store this year with a display of ceramic trophies, which will give visitors a “golden shot” at buying some very valuable works at very low prices in a highly original online auction.
The Festival Shop will be replaced by “The Exchange” in 2019 – a space where visitors and collectors will not only have an opportunity to buy and acquire ceramic art likely to increase in value over the years, but can also take part in numerous interactive events.
The event as a whole is mostly free to visit. For full opening times for all venues, check the BCB website https://www.britishceramicsbiennial.com. All tourist information, meanwhile, can be found at www.visitstoke.co.uk.