Sponsored Post | Open Call: Officine Saffi’s Open to Art Ceramics Award

MILAN––Submissions for the third edition of Open to Art Ceramics Award are open until September 21, 2018.

The award is organized by Officine Saffi with the aim of enhancing and promoting the use of ceramic in contemporary art and design. The competition offers €10,000 (~$11,726) plus several collateral awards in collaboration with prestigious international residency centers.

The finalists will be selected by a panel of experts that includes artists, curators, museum directors and designers, and will see their works displayed in an exhibition in Milan next year. The jurors are Felicity Aylieff, artist; Laura Borghi, Officine Saffi; Flaminio Gualdoni, journalist, art critic and professor of the Brera Academy; Tom Morris, editor and consultant specialized in design, interiors and architecture; Isabelle Naef Galuba, director of the Ariana Museum; Elisa Ossino, architect, stylist; Ranti Tjan, director of EKWC; Matteo Zauli, curator, director of the Carlo Zauli Museum

In addition to the first cash prizes, many residency centers are supporting the award offering the unique experience of working in workshops dedicated to the development of special projects.

Sundaymorning@ekwc is an international workplace where artists, designers and architects explore the technical and artistic possibilities of ceramics. The residency prize will last for four weeks. The chosen artist will be able to use the equipment of the center and will have the possibility to be followed by the staff who will make available their knowledge to better support the structuring of a specific project or to develop a new ceramic piece.

The International Ceramic Art Festival in Sasama, Shizuoka, will offer an artist the opportunity to experience the unique atmosphere of the Japanese countryside, living in close contact with the inhabitants of one of the most famous areas for the cultivation of green tea. During the residency the artist will be also able to experiment with the famous Anagama kiln.

The City of Seinäjoki, famous for its prestigious administrative and cultural center designed by Alvar Aalto, will select an artist for a 4 weeks residency together with Amfora, a Finnish design company producing high quality ceramic products for both everyday life and special moments.

The International Ceramic Research Center Guldagergaard in Denmark works to promote and develop ceramic art, craft, and design. The ambition of this collaboration is to help shape the future of ceramics by creating a dialogue within the ceramic community. The artist selected will profit a unique match between academic research, professional practice and artistic research.

Carlo Zauli Museum is a container that through its collections and various activities since 2002 has explored and spread the contemporary art in all its forms with a specific focus on ceramics. The museum offers the opportunity to live in close contact with the Faenza tradition of ceramics, inviting artists to develop a project between art and design.

The Museum of Ceramics of Mondovì offers a residency for 3 to 4 weeks in the prestigious Palazzo Fauzone in Germagnano. The exhibition itinerary unfolds through 17 rooms and has been designed to spread the Monregalese production techniques and to show, in an anthological perspective, all the production units of the local industry. The invited artist will learn in depth the history and techniques exhibited in the museum and will be able to work and develop his own project within the museum’s laboratory. Once the residency is over, the artist will exhibit their work inside the museum and afterwards Officine Saffi will dedicate a special event to the artist in its Milanese gallery.

Open to Art is open to all contemporary artists of any nationality, individuals or groups. There are no age limitations and no thematic constraints. Works can be made in any ceramic technique. Works that include other materials are accepted as long as clay is the principal material used.

The complete Terms and Conditions form is available on www.officinesaffi.com/open-to-art.

Submissions will be open until September 21,  2018.

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