Irish Ceramic Art China: The countdown

In September 2011, a group of Irish ceramic artists will travel to the Chinese town of Fuping, Shaanxi, to make the foundation collection for the newly built Irish Pavilion at the Fule International Ceramic Art Museum. The Irish Pavilion will showcase the best of the new wave of ceramic art emerging from Ireland, marrying the ancient techniques of the East to our own cultural traditions. It is a permanent exhibition space created to house the work of those ceramic artists whose subtlety, skill and vision captures the spirit of contemporary Ireland. Eleanor Flegg, writer, and Andrew Standen Raz, film maker and photographer, will travel with the group to document the residency. The Irish Pavilion opens on the 4th October 2011.

The blog is written by Eleanor Flegg, whose opinions may not necessarily reflect those of the group.

Monday, August 15, 2011

The countdown

Excitement is mounting as preparations for the China adventure gather momentum. Tickets - check. Chinese visas - check. Sixteen people is a big group to coordinate and with some folks flying into Beijing and others into Shanghai it's already getting complicated. I left Ireland already and am blogging from Japan - emails flying around the world in all directions as we make arrangements to meet up in Xi'an at the end of the month. It's taken a monumental effort to get this far - all those months of planning - and the fun part is just around the corner. What an opportunity this is for all of us! The thing at the back of my mind is - can I do it justice? But I'm sure I'm not alone in this...