At Ceramic Brussels, for example, visitors could see a mythical buffalo worked in gold and black, or shaman-like figures, the same size as a normal human, or a silver skeleton hanging on the wall – death as a kind of shiny concept. Or, as Dimanche graciously puts it: “Ceramics produces diverse art: from brutal to colorful, from wall pieces to baroque or mosaic, everything is possible.”
Dimanche: “In the past, artists mainly used ceramics to make sketches for their bronze statues; it was not considered a noble material. That first changed with Picasso, who fell for the charms of ceramics later in life. With his 1948 exhibition of more than a hundred painted objects, bowls and saucers – a selection of which is currently on display in the Royal Delft Museum – he introduced ceramics to the art world.”
The association with dishes evokes another idea: that of vulnerability. “Everyone has dropped a plate before and it burst. That is why many see ceramics as fragile.” But according to Dimanche, that is not correct. “Of course, nothing can compete with bronze figures. But at the same time we still find well-preserved ceramic pieces from antiquity. So it can stand the test of time.”
