Future Lights in Ceramics

An important objective of the project is to raise awareness of young people taking into account the new generation of artists, designers, stakeholders, architects dealing with ceramics. The part Future Lights in Ceramics aims to provide profound knowledge on ceramics to young people through contact and discussion with experts. Together with the European Ceramic Society (ECerS), federation of European national ceramic societies, an exchange of artistic and creative skills and knowledge about technology and material science is intended. The transfer of knowledge will drive new aspirations. The group of young people, the Future Lights in Ceramics, coming from the world of research, design, architecture, industry, will exchange their qualifications and expose their ideas to extend and improve innovation of technical ceramics.
The aim of the Young Ambassador Programme is to establish an international network with all young actors dealing with ceramics to exchange their ideas about the material and its perspective considering new consumers tendencies and new challenges such as integration and sustainable development. They will expose the results of their reflection through presentations at relevant events. Young Ambassadors will develop a meaningful and on-going relationship which will be an international guideline to encourage research and innovation in all the fields of ceramics. The first Future Lights were awared during a competition at Staffordshire University in October 2015.

Ceramics and its Dimensions – the project

Ceramics have always played a prominent role in the life of people in every European country. Its products were items used on daily basis for decoration or representation; they were and are still present in private homes as well as public areas in towns and villages. Ceramics in Europe have been shaped by the strong interdependency in Europe’s cultural region, techniques and colours, as well as by being used in a historical-cultural context such as for eating and drinking, decoration or architecture. Ceramics connect people, but they also enable regional differences, such as traditions, life-styles, and social or economic behaviours to be expressed and therefore develop an individual identity. Thanks to its characteristics and design possibilities, ceramics play an outstanding role in the lives of people and will continue to do so.
The past few decades have changed both Europe and the world presenting new social and economic challenges. Over the course of globalisation, our lifestyles have changed and are now closer to each other than ever before. There is a real cultural interchange which is also giving an impact on the design of European ceramics.
This ambitious project will connect museums, architects, designers, industry, and stakeholders from different European countries to explore the material according to its cultural, historical, technical, and artistic aspects. The course of the project will be punctuated by a series of events: exhibitions, workshops, symposia in all partner countries to encourage knowledge in the field of ceramics and to develop an inter-cultural dialogue between European ceramics regions.
The project intends to analyse the evolution and the different ways of use of ceramics from the baroque period to the present time. It places a lot of importance in discovering the future by studying the evolution of ceramics according to new challenges such as consumer’s needs, sustainable development and integration of minorities. Potential of new technologies will be explored to enable communication and access for numerous groups.