Ceramics and Its Dimensions

European Cultural Lifestyle in Ceramics – from Baroque until Today

May 19^th – June 27^th, 2015

Museum of Applied Art, Belgrade

Organizer: The International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza (Italy)

Participants: The Museum of Applied Art,Belgrade (Serbia), Porzellanikon – The State Museum of Porcelain, Selb (Germany), The National Museum of Ceramics, Valencia (Spain), The National Museum, Ljubljana (Slovenia), The Estonian Museum of Ceramics and Porcelain (Estonia), The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague (Czech Republic), The Porcelain Museum, Riga (Latvia), The Pottery Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom)

Module 2 Team, Belgrade:
Module 1 Leader: Ljiljana Miletic Abramovic, MAA acting director
Coordinating Curator: Jelena Popović, MAA
Curated by: Biljana Crvenkovic, MAA; Bojana Popovic, MAA; Biljana Vukotic, MAA

The European Cultural Lifestyle in Ceramics – from Baroque until Today international exhibition connects nine European museums which hold significant collections of ceramics in their collections. This large touring exhibition will be opened in Belgrade, in the Museum of Applied Art, and after Belgrade it will be hosted by five exhibition spaces over the next two years: the Porzellanikon National Museum, Selb (Germany), the National Museum of Ceramics, Valencia (Spain), the International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza (Italy), the Pottery Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent (UK), the Estonian Museum of Ceramics and Porcelain (Estonia).

Museums in Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Serbia will present about 150 items from their collections of ceramics. The exhibition will be divided according to historical periods and will be accompanied by didactic panels with photographs from the period in question and short texts. In this way the use of ceramics and its development can be followed in one place through examples of cultural lifestyles of each country.

Each of the participating museums has assessed and analyzed the role of ceramics in the life of their own country over the centuries, from the 1600s to the present day. Each country has unique characteristics, tastes and artistic tendencies, which are continuously formed under the influence of innovation and demands of each period. The aim of this project is to document the use of ceramics in different European geographical, historical and cultural contexts, starting from the Baroque period to the present day, with reference to future challenges.

The exhibits have been selected not only because they constitute a certain overview of the history of ceramics, but also as indicators of socio-anthropological characteristics of each century. The review and selection of items – in terms of shapes, decorations and functionality – indicate the progress, growth and development of one era and the nation.

The exhibition explores the tradition of ceramics with a desire to encourage the knowledge of our present situation, starting from ceramic manufacturing for everyday use to great artistic and biotechnological possibilities of contemporary ceramics. It will encourage the exchange of knowledge and rich ceramic history that will strengthen the role of European ceramics in the future.

The exhibition is sending out strong message with a desire to attract the attention of broad strata of international audiences and it focuses on people’s attitude towards ceramics from several angles: historical – artistic, educational, as well as virtual approach to collections and heritage.