2024 Celebratory Video

Transcript

Holly Arden: Welcome to the biennial North Queensland Ceramic Awards in 2024. These Awards date back over 50 years to 1973. Originally conceived by the North Queensland Potters Association, they've continued to flourish through Townsville City Gallery's partnership with the Potters Association. The North Queensland Ceramic Awards and now widely regarded as one of the most prestigious ceramic awards nationwide.

This year, Townsville City Galleries received a record 183 entries from around the nation, with 84 finalists who've gone on to display their works in the exhibition. A significant contingent of these are from north and far north Queensland, demonstrating the strength of ceramic practice in our region.

Jann Kesby: For me, the significance of an exhibition like the North Queensland Ceramic Awards is really imperative in our society today. Without the opportunity to exhibit works like this, we would be asking ourselves, "what are we doing and why are we doing this?" It brings a sense of wellbeing. It helps with problem solving, which can stand you in good stead with other life experiences.

Holly Arden: The works are frequently sensuous, surprising, personal, and sometimes loads of fun. We have highly experienced ceramists experimenting with form, technique and material, and earlier career artists for whom ceramic is part of an expanded art practice.

Jann Kesby: I chose Of Motherhood as the major award winner. It showed a lovely fluidity of clay; the qualities I wanted to see clay expressing. It was thought-provoking. I wanted to read the text, and I was trying to sort of stretch around the form and there's a QR code that people can scan and all the stories will come up, so you can actually read the text very clear.

Out of the 183 entries, there's some really high-quality work. For any judge that came in, it's not an easy task.

Holly Arden: Townsville City Galleries is enormously thankful to our sponsors, to our rigorous panel of judges, to all artists for entering the awards, and to you, our audiences. Welcome to the 2024 North Queensland Ceramic Awards.