MIC Faenza, here are the winners of the International Biennial of Contemporary Art Ceramics

From July 1 to October 29, 2023, selected works from the 62nd edition of the Faenza Prize, International Biennial of Contemporary Ceramic Art, will be on display at the MIC - Museo Internazionale della Ceramica in Faenza. The competition is among the world’s most important competitions in the field ofcontemporary ceramic art, first established in 1938.

This edition saw great participation, especially at the international level, and the jury, this’this year composed of MIC Faenza director Claudia Casali, Judith Schwartz, president of the Museum of Ceramic Art-NY, Ranti Tjan, director of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, Tomohiro Daicho, senior curator of MOMAK in Kyoto, and Irene Biolchini, guest curator of MIC Faenza, selected 70 works from 1101 entries by 723 artists (or groups), amounting to 570 in the over category and 153 in the under-35 category. Sixty countries participated.

Among the seventy works selected, the jury judged as the winner of the over 35 category-a prize supported by the Fondazione del Monte and Cassa di Risparmio di Faenza-the installation Eclectic Earth Paradise by Belgian artist Yves Malfliet, and as the winner of the under 35 category-a prize supported by Cersaie-the work Courtyard Twilight Series IV by Chinese artist Wei Bao. Both winning artists reflect through clay on the relationship between man, society, nature and the environment.

“Yves Malfliet evolves by constantly reinventing his work through witty and thought-provoking creations,” the jurors commented. “The process of working with clay is characterized by multiple techniques that result in a harmonious whole. The intellectual aspect of the work leads to an investigation of our society and, more profoundly, the remnants of society, through the fusion and an apparent collapse of objects, enclosed in boxes in which everything is piled up, like a bric-à-brac or garbage. The work encompasses the entire space granted: wall, table, floor in a total installation of great originality.”

“Wei Bao’s work,” the Jury continues, “instead draws attention to the relationship between man and nature from a reflection on ancient civilizations and their living cores. Circularity represents the revolution of the Earth; ancient civilizations began to live in circular spaces, in contact and symbiosis with nature. This is as timely a theme as ever: we experience every day the loss of that primordial harmony. The work calls us to respect the natural balance in building, to return to a serene dialogue with nature.”

The Medal of the Chamber of Deputies went to Anja Seiler, the Medal of the Senate of the Republic to Marieke Pauwels, the Monica Biserni Prize to Sarah Pschorn, the Eleuterio Ignazi Memorial Prize to Victor Fotso Nyie, the Faenza Rotary Club Prize to Marco Samorè, the Faenza Host Lions Club Award to Elysia Athanatos, the D’A magazine Silver Medal to Hongli Peng, and finally the MIC Faenza Lifetime Achievement Award to Velimir Vukicevic.

The Jury’s Honorable Mentions go instead to Sara Cancellieri, Frank Louis, Fausto Salvi, and Veljko Zejak.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition will be held on June 30 at 5 p.m.

MIC Faenza, here are the winners of the International Biennial of Contemporary Art Ceramics

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