THE BCK 2024the first Biennale of Contemporary Ceramics on Hellascannot be removed from his name the country that is a sign of culture, the Hellas. Thus, ceramics rely on history, touch its roots and show “ceramics”, lending the first “K” to the institution. Biennale of Contemporary Ceramics (BCK).
The organization promotes one double demand. On the one hand, the need to support Greek ceramics and on the other hand, to promote it to a wider audience. It aims to create stimuli for new aesthetic trends, improve research and strengthen communication between creators and the public.
THE Biennale of Contemporary Ceramics he is attractively wandering and decentralized. Like a blue dot traveling, it is not centered in the metropolis of Athens but held each time in a different islanddrawing inspiration from each place, its mythological and historical background, its archaeological landmarks, presenting an exhibition and a program with similar actions, projects, exhibitions and workshops for those artists and the local community.
BCK’s wanderings lead to a new narrative, the ceramics each time telling the cultural heritage of each place.
It organizes educational programs that offer knowledge, new experiences and stimuli to local communities, contributes to the development of cultural tourism and strengthens the local economy and art. The Organizing Team in collaboration with artistic bodies and groups, institutes, museums and educational organizations researches and plans new ways to promote the cultural heritage of Greece through contemporary ceramic art.
Every two years the event has a new, renewed face, promoting and strengthening the culture of a new part of Greece and our history. New places, new narratives.
Mainly guided by the promotion and recognition of contemporary Greek ceramic art and ceramists on a global level, the BCK is viewed as one of the most important cultural events to be held every two years on Hellas.
Its mission is to fill the gap that has existed until now in contemporary ceramic art in our country and become a big biennale, equal to those abroad. THE BCK seeks to be the cause of Greek culture and the promotion of Greek and foreign ceramists, established and young, connecting local artistic production to the international scene.
H BCK 2024 implemented by Urban Non-Profit Corporation Big Blue Dot, based on Kefaloniato organize it Biennale of Contemporary Ceramics and the prominence of Greek ceramics throughout the world.
Starting point for 1st Biennale of Contemporary Ceramics 2024 is the Santorini. Meeting place, the Museum of Prehistoric Therawhich, having as its point of reference the prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri, presents the life and culture of Thira during the prehistoric period, as illustrated by various exhibits, mainly clay vessels and walls painting.
the foam is one of the most important city centers and ports Aegean during the possession and Late Bronze Age (2000-1700 BC). It was a populous city with admirable social organization, public streets and tall buildings. Fascinating frescoes, the oldest examples of monumental painting in the Hellasdecorated almost all the building complexes, which provide through their narrative character valuable information about the society of Akrotiri. The imported goods prove the relationship and communication of the inhabitants of Akrotiri with DodecaneseTHE Cyprusthe mainland Hellasbut also to him Egyptand the Syria.
5,000 ceramic vessels of different types and sizes, tools, figurines, ritual objects and furniture were discovered in the area, which proves the great development of the settlement. The earth stored inside it remains to be revealed, and today we are told about the daily life of the people of Cycladic Thera.
Moreover, now the global influence of Santorini makes it an ideal first destination for him BCK and an excellent way to spread the local art movement around the world. The island already has the necessary infrastructure to transport works and host visitors and artists and is easily accessible by boat and plane.
With duration five monthsthrough June to October 2024visitors have the opportunity to admire the central exhibition, attend workshops, lectures and visit the parallel exhibition of Santorini Art Factory (SAF).
The exhibition
Inspired by the archaeological site of Akrotiri in the south of the island, where the ruins of a prehistoric city of great cultural importance were discovered, the Museum of Prehistoric Thira will host twenty original works of twenty artists from Greece and abroad. Through an open call, artists are invited to be inspired by the findings of prehistoric Akrotiri, to research and present their works, with clay as the dominant material. The works are selected by an international committee of experts and will be displayed in the place that is the source of inspiration.
THE International Jury selected twenty artists, who shared their vision of BCK, and through their work celebrated the beauty of ceramics.
The artists selected are:
George Vavatsis | Helena Bodenberg | Mirka Drapaniotou | Ule Ewelt | Ion Fukazawa | Amyel Garnaoui | they are irvin | Iosifina Kosmas | Konstantinos Ladianos | Simon Manoha | Natalia Manda | Stella Baraklianou | Aylin Önen | Angeliki Papadopoulou | Desa Philipi | Yoav Reches | Nikos Sepetzoglou | Theoklitos Triantafyllidis | Christos Tsoumplekas | Yena Young
“Clay Echoes: Capturing Hidden Narratives”
“The Clay Echoes: Through Hidden Narratives”
In the land of Thera, from the land of Prehistoric Thera.
Every ceramic object tells a story, the story of its creator, its materials, its place. This is the story of human hands in contact with the humble material, a personal contact, hands that guide the clay with a careful movement of unexpected changes. This is the story of the eyes that measure, calculate and caress the clay. This is the story of a man who leans gently on the earth that has been formed, who talks to it, often monologues, who stops to think, to enjoy, to admire. To listen to the story and with the material to create a new story. Together.
In the beginning, the earth, the earth. All ceramic objects come from here and end there.
The land that gave birth to them, the land that sheltered and protected them, the land that revealed them again. Sometimes whole and sometimes fragmented. From one’s own depths one can hear the echoes of an art so ancient that it transcends human history.
First masters of an ancient technique, the birds and animals that make their nests using clay. Land and water. Land and water. The divine elements of protoplasts. Fire. The power that gives strength and stability to things, that defeats time. Empedocles considered the origin of all four elements of nature: earth, water, air and fire. Pottery is formed with the four primordial cosmic elements and transforms them into shape and form. It is an earthy art, quiet but also revealing. Today, ceramic art is developing internationally, shown in exhibitions and Biennales of contemporary ceramics, organized with great success around the world.