The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 50 no 1 April 2011

Events
Welcome drums. Fuping Pottery
Art Village (fPAV)
Photo: Andrei Davidoff
Banquets, Warriors,
Young Guns and Banter
Andrei Davidoff reports on his experience at I(MEA 2010
The 3rd International Ceramic Magazine Editors Association (lCMEA) Conference and corresponding
Emerging Ceramic Artist Competition was held in November at its permanent home, Fuping Pottery
Art Village, which also houses the FuLe International Ceramic Art Museums (FlICAM). The conference
was attended by more than 60 international delegates, with a strong Australian contingent led by Janet
Mansfield and Vicki Grima.
Ten days of intensive talks, discussions, sightseeing, wanton banquet attendance and fireworks
displays were followed by side trips to the porcelain city of Jingdezhen and the Lonquan Celadon
Festival. Thrown into this ceramics-fuelled frenzy was the judging and awarding of the Emerging
Ceramic Artist Competition, as well as the launch of the new Eastern European Museum as part of the
FliCAM complex.
With the theme Interpretation of Ceramics, the conference itself consisted of an eclectic range of
speakers and topics - from ceramic design education in Italy, to the effects of the GFC on Midwestern
American production potters. With rapid computer prototyping and ceramic printing in the Netherlands
to an overview of ceramic art in Lithuania, it seemed as if issues concerning ceramicists all over the
globe were touched upon. The more hotly contested discussions centred around the question of
ceramics' position in the broader art world, and the need for more critical discussion, as well as the
changing role of ceramics magazines in an increasingly digital and fast-paced world. Time for discussion
was limited during the talks and so debates continued during lunches, dinners and several times well
into the night over cold Tsing Taos and Chinese whisky.
The Emerging Ceramic Artist Competition, which was judged by the editors attending the conference,
consisted of 59 short-listed artists whose works were acquired by FUCAM. Fourteen Australian artists
88 THE JOURNAL Of AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS APRIL 2011