The annual Yingge International Ceramics Festival (鶯歌國際陶瓷嘉年華) is a major part of the Yingge Ceramics Museum's (鶯歌陶瓷博物館) effort to win international recognition for producing high quality ceramics, particularly as a rival of China's Porcelain Capital, Jingde Zhen (景德鎮). The town prides itself on being an innovator in the field of ceramics, pushing the boundaries in concept and design, as well as production technology.
The festival, which starts today and runs until Oct. 14, has many objectives; not least of which is showing how much fun ceramics can be. This year's theme is the four elements - wind, earth, water and fire - which are vital to ceramic production, as well as symbols for environmental issues and Taoist alchemy and cosmology.
The Taoist element provides the basis for the highlight of the event: the welcoming of the God of the Kiln. This will happen through a parade along the streets of Yingge tomorrow (1:30pm to 3pm) and will be repeated again next Saturday (2:30pm to 3:30pm).
Activities take place around the museum, the ceramics park (陶瓷公園) and Shalun Plaza (砂輪廣場). There will be demonstrations of the potter's art throughout the festival, as well as opportunities for children to try their hand at pottery, mosaic-building and more.
Aside from the fun and games, the festival serves as an important forum for international ceramic artists. This year, French artist Jacque Kaufmann and American Doug Casebeer will be guests of the festival, and will work alongside local artists Chu Fang-yi (朱芳毅) and Hsu Chia-yu (許家瑜), both winners at the Fifth Taipei Ceramic Design Awards (第五屆台北陶藝創作獎). There will be a chance to watch these masters at work during the festival.
Two special exhibitions will be held in conjunction with the festival. The first, When Water Meets Ceramics (人間清歡:當水遇見陶特展), is an exploration of the close relationship of water to ceramics. No exhibition relating to water and pottery would be complete without some consideration of the role of tea preparation and consumption through the ages, and the museum will host five one-hour sessions with tea master Tsai Chung-nan (蔡忠南) on this subject.
A Selected Exhibition of New Ceramics Works (陶瓷新品評鑑展), an exhibition of work by 52 artists representing 34 manufacturers, is another opportunity to the view work of emerging artists.
The whole town of Yingge will be turning out for the festival, making this the perfect time to visit, even for those without a specific interest in ceramics. Workshops around town will be displaying their newest and best in anticipation of the inflow of tourists. There will be plenty happening to keep the kids interested, and if you want to get your hands dirty, there will be DIY activities to give you the full experience of being in Taiwan's very own porcelain capital.
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