On Friday, June 6, at 6:00 p.m., the ceremonial opening of the jubilee 50th International Ceramic and Sculptural Symposium will take place at the BOK-MCC gallery in Bolesławiec. The opening will feature an exhibition of works by Janina Bany-Kozłowska.
The International Ceramic and Sculptural Symposium is the only ceramic symposium in Poland to have been held continuously for 50 years. It is a prestigious event not only on Poland’s cultural map, but also internationally. It effectively promotes the work of outstanding ceramic sculptors from Poland and abroad.
Janina Bany-Kozłowska has participated in the Bolesławiec symposiums many times and works in functional ceramics and ceramic sculpture. She has presented her works at numerous local, national and international exhibitions. She has been professionally associated with Zakłady Ceramiczne „Bolesławiec” for 40 years, serving as chief designer and author of most of the patterns in serial production. This year, she received the honorary Mayor’s Award for the Promotion of the City of Bolesławiec.
In June, Bolesławiec will host 15 ceramic sculptors from Ukraine, Italy, Spain, India, Lithuania and Poland at the 50th International Ceramic and Sculptural Symposium.
“Kazimierz Kalkowski has been working at the symposium for ten days. His workshop is the ceramics studio at BOK-MCC,” says Mateusz Grobelny, the symposium commissioner. “Ruta Sipalyte from Lithuania has already arrived; she is an interesting artist and designer who works at Fabryka Naczyń Kamionkowych „Manufaktura”. The Poles who have worked abroad for years are also interesting artists. Evelina Wojtowicz creates in Ireland, and Piotr Nowak in Oslo. Piotr Nowak creates powerful, large, aggressive forms. I hope that this year we can provoke the artists to create large-format works. Michał Puszczyński makes works up to four metres tall, while Siraj Saxena from India creates small works but assembles them into enormous installations. I hope this symposium will be better than the previous one,” adds Mateusz Grobelny.
The artists participating in the 50th International Ceramic and Sculptural Symposium will be: Bogusław Dobrowolski (Poland), Krystyna Gay-Kutschenreiter (Poland), honorary participant in the Symposium, Mateusz Grobelny (Poland), Symposium commissioner, Kazimierz Kalkowski (Poland), Marta Kisiliczyk (Poland), Ihor Kovalevych (Ukraine), Piotr Nowak (Poland), Edyta Orlińska (Poland), Joan Poch I Catala (Spain), Michał Puszczyński (Poland), Yuri Ragazzini (Italy), Luce Raggi (Italy), Siraj Saxena (India), Ruta Sipalyte (Lithuania), Evelina Wojtowicz (Poland).
The symposium participants will create their works at three Bolesławiec facilities: Zakłady Ceramiczne „Bolesławiec” Sp. z o.o., „Ceramika Artystyczna” Spółdzielnia Rękodzieła Artystycznego and Fabryka Naczyń Kamionkowych „Manufaktura” Sp. J. Smoleński & Zwierz.. The event’s media patron is the magazine „Szkło i Ceramika”.
For the past two years, BOK-MCC has been the sole organiser of the Bolesławiec symposiums. “Twice, the symposiums received funding through the major international EU project Arginet (clay), but for years the Municipal Commune has ensured their continuity, allocating up to several tens of thousands of złotys for this purpose each time,” says Ewa Lijewska-Małachowska. “Organising the symposium is a challenge for us. We handle the artists’ stays, placing them at ceramic facilities, exhibitions, demonstrations and promotion. I can rely on Dorota Dziedzic-Lechowska, who looks after the guests with great dedication and professionalism. We also receive invaluable assistance from the longtime symposium commissioner and outstanding artist Krystyna Gay-Kutschenreiter. This year, Mateusz Grobelny is once again the symposium commissioner; on a daily basis, he works at BOK-MCC. He takes care of many things, but above all the event’s artistic level. This year, we are planning an exceptional finale to the fiftieth symposium. The post-symposium exhibition will once again be presented in a spherical gallery tent, a jubilee catalogue will be published together with the Museum of Ceramics, and there will also be a retrospective exhibition,” adds the director of BOK-MCC.
The 50th International Ceramic and Sculptural Symposium in Bolesławiec is being held as part of the ARGINET project, co-financed by the European Union under the Culture programme.
(commissioned information: BOK-MCC)