"1001 cups" A contemporary ceramic exhibition at Crafts Museum, Bhairon Road, Pragati Maidan - 1st to 31st December 2009

Time : 

30th November : 3:30 pm - Inauguration by Ms Laila Tyabji, Chairperson Dastkar in the presence of H E Mr Philippe Welti, Ambassador of Switzerland to India

1st to 31st December : 10:00 am - 5:00 pm (Monday closed)  - Exhibition on View

Entry : Free

Place : Crafts Museum, Bhairon Road, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi 110001
Ph. : 011-23371641

Map : Crafts Museum at Google Maps
Nearest Delhi Metro Rail Station : Pragati Maidan Metro Station which Comes Under Line 3 ( Noida - Barakhamba Road - Dwarka )

Event Details : The National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum and Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council present '1001 cups' A contemporary ceramic exhibition. The National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum and Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council present a contemporary ceramics exhibition.

With the touring ceramics exhibition 1001 Cups we pay homage to the traditional little Indian teacup by presenting a vast panorama of contemporary ceramic creation in all its richness and vitality.
One hundred contemporary ceramists from five continents were asked to create a series of ten variations each based on the universal theme of the cup. The public will thus have the opportunity to discover the amazing variety of approaches and techniques that ceramic materials allow. Ranging from the most archaic to the most recent, a multitude of techniques are presented, from smoke-fired polished clay to the thinnest porcelain.

100 artists, 100 technologies : The one hundred guest ceramists were chosen to demonstrate the four main trends in present-day ceramic creation: tradition, tradition in evolution, reinterpretation and experimentation. They represent the diversity of high- and low-fired ceramic production in the mastery of the particular techniques that each of them has developed. Each artist has created a series of ten cups, all different, but made using a single technique and according to certain constraints as to their dimensions.

The organisers : In 2007, the association "Dialogue céramique" was founded in Geneva by two ceramists, Claude Albana Presset (former professor at the Geneva School of Decorative Arts [Ecole des Arts Décoratifs]), Anja Seiler (coordinator at the International Academy of Ceramics) and an art historian, Lada Umstätter (curator of the Fine Arts Museum [Musée des Beaux-Arts] of La Chaux-de-Fonds). Their aim was to organise the collective creation of "1001 cups" for a travelling exhibition of contemporary ceramics in Europe and Asia from 2009 to 2011.


The tour : In homage to the little Indian teacup that inspired the exhibition, its first venue will be in India, at the Crafts Museum in New Delhi. From there, it will go to the Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou (Canton), China; then, to the Icheon World Ceramic Center in Korea. The European phase of the tour will take it first to France, to the Espace d'Exposition Hans Hedberg in Biot; then to the Viaduc des Arts in Paris; and finally to the Musée la Piscine in Roubaix. Switzerland will be the final stage of the tour: in Geneva it will be on view at the Musée Ariana and in La Chaux-de-Fonds, at the Musée des Beaux-Arts.
The film : Filmmaker and anthropologist Louk Vreeswijk, has made the film, "Journeys in Clay", as he travelled to India, China, Japan, France and Switzerland. Focussing on the theme of diversity, it shows many different techniques of ceramic production. Potters still working in the age-old tradition of their ancestors are portrayed next to modern artists pursuing their experiments in clay. A shorter version of the film will be shown as part of the exhibition.
The workshops : A series of workshops are being organised in Delhi ( 1st to 4th December ) and Bhopal.
Traditional craftspeople and studio potters have been invited to participate in the workshop being conducted by Swiss ceramist and curator Claude Presset, Anja Seiler-Kopmann, Lise Cassani and Hugues de Crousaz.

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