The symposium in Bolesławiec was established in the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, the era of flower children and the sexual revolution. It was a time when The Beatles were at the top and President Kennedy was killed in Dallas.
In 1963, the first international ceramics symposium was held in Gmunden, Austria. This initiative launched ceramic symposiums around the world. Some were held only a few times, while the Bolesławiec symposium was organised continuously for 50 years. This year we are celebrating the symposium’s anniversary. To mark the occasion, the Museum of Ceramics (14 Kutuzowa Street) is hosting a comprehensive exhibition of works created in Bolesławiec during the ceramic symposium.
The Bolesławiec history of the symposium began in 1964. The event was established in our city on the initiative of a club of young sculptors from the Sculpture Section of the Wrocław branch of the Association of Polish Art Photographers (ZPAP). One of the first participants was Krystyna Gay-Kutschenreiter, the symposium’s long-serving commissioner and an artist who transformed it from a nationwide event into an international one.
Over the 50 years, the commissioners changed and so did the symposium’s name, but it was organised continuously by the city authorities and the Bolesławiec cultural centre (today BOK-MCC), with major involvement from Bolesławiec’s ceramics manufacturers. For several years, these have included: Zakłady Ceramiczne „Bolesławiec” Sp. z o.o., „Ceramika Artystyczna” Spółdzielnia Rękodzieła Artystycznego and Fabryka Naczyń Kamionkowych „Manufaktura” Sp. J. Smoleński & Zwierz.
“The exhibition presenting the achievements of artists at the ceramic symposium, organised for 50 years, is the most important exhibition organised by our museum this year,” said Anna Bober-Tubaj, director of the Museum of Ceramics, at the opening of the exhibition.Anna Bober-Tubaj.
The mayor, who attended the opening, emphasised the symposium’s enormous importance in shaping the image of the city as Poland’s ceramics capital. “Twelve years ago, when I became mayor of Bolesławiec, our city was associated only with a psychiatric hospital. Today, both in Poland and abroad, Bolesławiec means stamps, peacock eyes and ceramics,” said Piotr Roman. “In the 1990s, when local governments were looking for money for basic needs such as schools and kindergartens, the new authorities in our city did not forget about art or the symposium. It never had any political power; no one won elections with it. All the more respect is due to the local-government officials who supported the Bolesławiec symposium,” the mayor concluded.
Many thanks were extended to Krystyna Gay-Kutschenreiter, honorary commissioner of this year’s symposium and curator of the comprehensive museum exhibition.
The symposium’s continuity is a source of pride. Such an important international event, held in our city, is prestigious and culture-forming, making Bolesławiec a unique place in the artistic world.
The 50th International Ceramic Sculpture Symposium in Bolesławiec is being held as part of the ARGINET project, co-financed by the European Union under the Culture programme. The project aims to promote dialogue and intercultural exchange in Europe through a system of innovative international cooperation activities involving cultural operators in the ceramics sector. The project will enable greater mobility and the transnational operation of the achievements and experience of individual partners in the fields of artistic ceramics and ceramic craftsmanship. ARGINET proposes introducing, within the existing network of events, an exchange and development programme promoting the participation of artists and ceramic activities on a European scale.
The 20th Bolesławiec Ceramics Festival is being held as part of the ARGINET project, co-financed by the European Union under the Culture programme. The 20th Bolesławiec Ceramics Festival is organised by the Bolesławiec Centre – International Ceramics Centre.
