Fostering Creativity: The British Crafts Council's Support of Ceramic Artists

This paper was commissioned by the World Ceramic Exposition Foundation, South Korea on the occasion of the 3rd International Ceramic Symposium held at the Ceramic Research Centre, Icheon South Korea. International information exchange and academic discussion were key objectives of this major three-day event. International contributors included Simon Groom, Richard Slee, Piet Stockmans and Koos de Jong from Europe, Tony Marsh and Judith Schwartz from the USA and Liu Jianhua from China.

The session, 'Global Support and Inter-exchanges of Ceramic Art' provided the context for this paper. Speakers came from a variety of fields including government organisations, ceramic magazines, residency programmes and museums, and included Robert Harrison, Gabi Dewald, Paul J. Smith, Moyra Elliott and Kwan-ho Woo.

Amanda's paper articulated the organisation's role in collecting and curating new ceramic practice within the British context in order to examine how institutional support has been key in creating a particular ceramic culture in Britain that was both progressive and transgressive. It drew on primary research interviews with ceramists Clare Twomey, Carol McNicoll, Philip Eglin and Janet Mason, amongst others to trace its impact through the experiences of individual makers.

Graduating from University College London in English Literature and History of Art, Amanda Fielding's curatorial career began in the Department of Ceramics and Glass at the V&A. From there she joined the Crafts Council, London, as Curator of the Collection, responsible for acquiring contemporary objects, curating Collection-based touring exhibitions and convening the Annual Craft Curators' Conference. In January 2007 she took up the new post of Camberwell/V&A Research Fellow in the Crafts.