Grace Nickel

Here are some photos of the finished works created by the other Canadian artists in Fuping. In the end, after all the struggles and successes, the ten Canadian artists managed to stage an impressive showing of works for the Canadian Museum, which is part of the Fule International Ceramic Art Museums (FLICAM) project in Fuping, China.

As a “living museum” project, the idea is for other Canadian ceramic artists to travel to Fuping in the future to participate in the residency and create additional works for the Canadian Museum. In this way, the artistic and cultural exchange between east and west remains active and the museum remains dynamic. Since we were the first group of artists from Canada to participate in the residency, having established the charter collection of Canadian works, the ten of us are now considered to be official “citizens” of FLICAM and are welcome to return to Fuping anytime we wish.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the FLICAM organizers and all the people in Fuping who made it possible for us to focus all of our time and attention on our work, and helped us bring it to fruition. This includes Dr I-Chi Hsu, Chairman Xu Dufeng, General Manager and Curator of FLICAM Fu Qiang, Brother Xu, all the assistants working at the factory, all the interpreters, and all the hotel and residency staff. We could not have done it without you! Hope to see you all again.

I would also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our Canadian organizer Les Manning, ceramic artist and Director of the Medalta International Artists in Residence Program in Medicine Hat, Alberta, who did an excellent job of putting the Canadian contingent together and spent countless hours looking after all the details required to organize our participation in the residency in China. Les was unflagging in his encouragement and support throughout the whole process. The FLICAM organizers said “the Canadians set the example.” I would like to thank all the other Canadian artists and international artists, whose professionalism, expertise, hard work, and overall good nature and humour helped to make it a very special experience.

I am sincerely grateful for the support I received from the Canada Council for the Arts in the form of a travel grant, which made my participation in this important cultural and artistic exchange possible.

With sincere thanks to all, Grace

Sally Michener, Vancouver, B.C. – works being assembled in the studio (photo by G. Nickel); works installed in the Canadian Museum (photo by A. Mortimer)

Susan Collett, Toronto, Ontario – finished work photographed in the tile yard (photos by S. Collett)

Jim Thomson, Ottawa, Ontario – work installed in Canadian Museum; installation view of works in the Canadian Museum (photos by J. Thomson)

Katrina Chaytor, Calgary, Alberta – work in Canadian Museum with her poster in the background; work installed in the Canadian Museum (photos by S. Collett)

Ann Roberts, Waterloo, Ontario – with her works in the Canadian Museum; work installed in Canadian Museum (photos courtesy of FLICAM)

Ann Mortimer, Newmarket, Ontario – works being transported to the Canadian Museum (photo by S. Collett); work installed in Canadian Museum (photo courtesy of FLICAM)

Gilbert Poissant, Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec – work installed in Canadian Museum (photos courtesy of FLICAM)

Les Manning, Medicine Hat, Alberta – work installed in Canadian Museum (photos by G. Nickel)

Charley Farrero, Meacham, Saskatchewan – work installed in Canadian Museum (photos by G. Nickel)

Another week has flown by as we have continued to work in the studio, but have also taken time out to do some short site-seeing trips. The first was to Xi’an to see the famous Terra Cotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty. It was incredible! Then we went to the Shaanxi Historical Museum in Xi’an, where the whole history of Shaanxi Province was told through the development of vessel making in ceramics and bronze. Fabulous! Our second day away from the factory took us up into the mountains to a pottery village called Chenlu, famous for its celadon ceramics and its black and white ware. The landscape in the mountains was spectacular and we soon forgot about the dubious air quality we had left behind in Fuping. It’s only the populated areas that are heavily polluted — makes sense of course, but it was great to breathe some fresh, clean air for a day.

Then, last weekend, four of us had the chance to travel to Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of the world. In Jingdezhen, everything is centred around ceramics — all the lamp posts are made of porcelain, there are shops selling only kiln shelves, shops selling only glazes, shops selling only ceramic decals, and there are numerous ceramic markets to visit, with row upon row of antique and new pottery for sale. Needless to say, I had to do a bit of shopping. There was a large ceramic festival on when we were there and this involved all sorts of special exhibitions, celebrations, ceremonies, dinners, breakfasts, speeches, and more.

We all hopped on a bus to go to Kaolin Mountain one day (kaolin is the main ingredient of porcelain), and we were greeted with drums and cymbals at a small mountain village where the future home of the World Ceramic Centre lies. This is an ambitious project envisioned by Jackson Li, founder of the Sanbao Artist Residency, located in the mountains outside Jingdezhen — a beautifully rustic facility with studios, guest rooms, a gallery, a restaurant (with an excellent cook!), and a shop where artists can go to work for extended periods of time. We also visited the Pottery Workshop situated in a sculpture factory in Jingdezhen. This facility was recently established by Caroline Cheng, who owns other workshops and galleries in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing. This is a beautiful facility with studios, rooms, a gallery, a production studio, and two coffee shops!

It was wonderful to get out to see some of what China has to offer. It is a fascinating country and each province and each city has its own long history, often told through its ceramics. Each place comes with its own special traditions, food and customs to discover. But now we’re all back hard at work at the factory as we careen toward the deadline, which is now nearly upon us. The Canadian Museum is scheduled to open on November 6th.

Until later, Grace

Hello again,

We continue to work hard to meet our deadline. Every day begins at 6:30 a.m., with breakfast being served at 8:00 a.m. sharp. After breakfast we work until noon, have lunch and then go back to work until 7:00 p.m., when dinner is served (don’t be late!). Then most of us go back to work after dinner to work until 10:00 p.m. or later (much later no doubt as the opening of the museum comes nearer!). It’s a pretty intense routine, but necessary. Everyone’s work is going well, as we all aim to complete the construction of work within the next week to allow time for drying and firing.

Two of the Canadian artists have been away in Xi’an for two days, one of them to work in a studio that creates replicas of the terra cotta warriors found in the tomb of Emperor Qin (about 50 km from Fuping). Also, while we are here, there are two artists working to make work for the French Ceramic Museum and three days ago, four artists from Mexico arrived. I think they were even more surprised than we were to find the cold, rainy weather we’ve been experiencing. Yesterday Susan and I went to Fuping to purchase winter clothes — down vest and jacket — can you believe it? The rain stopped this afternoon and the weather is supposed to change for the better. That will also be of great benefit for the quick drying of our clay work.

I’ll keep you posted on our progress. I continue to pursue the tree theme I began to investigate at NSCAD last year. I plan to complete at least four trees while I’m here, hoping that at least three of these will survive and be installed permanently in the Canadian Museum at the Fuping Pottery Art Village.

Best, Grace