3. Juni 2012 - New Ceramics

gallery
3rd IKSIT
As a part of the EU cultural programme,
international ceramics
symposia took place in Innsbruck in 2005
and 2008. Top internationally acclaimed
artists from Japan, China, Mexico, the
Emirates, Russia, Estonia, Hungary, the
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy
and Austria had followed the invitation to
come to Innsbruck.
For 2011, artists were invited to Tyrol
from Mexico (Paloma Torres), Finland
(Catharina Kajander), Turkey (Candan
Güngör), Taiwan (Shao Ting-Ju) and Italy
(Daniela Chinellato). From Austria, Ucki
Kossdorff, Barbara Reisinger and Katharina
Schmidinger participated. With his
skills as a sculptor, Christian Moschen
enhanced the ceramic scene.
To maintain the continuity of the
Symposium, IKSIT was founded – an association
for the “Internationales Keramik
Symposium Innsbruck-Tirol" with the
aim to integrate artistic dialogue with
contemporary ceramics in sculpture, 3-D
and installations in the overall art process
and to raise awareness and increase the
appreciation of ceramic art.
The participants all brought finished
work with them, which was shown in
an exhibition at the Hofburg, where art
historian Elisabeth Larcher gave an introduction.
Over 6,000 people came to the
exhibition.
From 8 – 12 August we worked in the
generously proportioned premises of the
HTL, a technical college in the centre of
Internationales Keramiksymposium Innsbruck-Tirol 2011
Innsbruck. The garden was used for work,
relaxation and firing raku.
An invitation to the traditional Böglerhof
in the well-known mountain village
of Alpbach, where we were also
able to see the sculpture group by Ucki
Kossdorff in the centre of the Kulturforum
was an experience of a special kind.
Another highlight was a visit to Ambras
Castle with a guided tour of the treasure
chamber, a picnic in the park and as the
culmination of the tour, a concert in the
Spanischer Saal as part of the festival of
old music.
In cooperation with the teacher training
college, a paper kiln was built as a
one-day project. The teachers taking part
were able to learn new forms and techniques
by talking to the artists and from
video presentations. Three public lectures
in the evenings were a further opportunity
to gain an insight into the working
methods and the range of forms from the
participating artists.
The work produced during the Symposium
was exhibited at Galerie Nothburga
over a period of three days. A combination
of these two exhibitions was shown
gabriela nepo-Stieldorf
in March and April at K-Hof Gallery of the
Kammerhof Museums in Gmunden, the
well-known ceramics city on the Traunsee.
With this exhibition, the Gmunden
tradition of cultural exchanges was extended
to include a ceramics symposium
and linked with the initiative in Tyrol.
The cooperation and exchange of experience
between the participants from
a huge range of different cultures within
the framework of the symposium and the
interdisciplinary cooperation with other
artists' associations and educational institutions
led to further encounters in other
symposia, residencies, further training
for teachers and school projects. The networking
of the participants from all three
symposia now truly spans the globe, so
that the Innsbruck experience can be continued,
and for the next Symposium in
2014, renowned colleagues have already
announced their interest.
Gabriela Nepo-Stieldorf is a ceramic artist and
sculptor. She lives in Innsbruck, austria.
gabriela@neo-stieldorf.at
top portraits by Christian Moschen
middle ucki Kossdorff and Christian Moschen
bottom l Shao-Ting Jun setting up the
exhibition
bottom r work by gabriela nepo-Stieldorf
44 NEW CERAMICS May / June 2012