Since ancient times, ceramics have been an important cultural symbol for the world to understand China and China to go to the world. As an important source of goods on the Maritime Silk Road, Jingdezhen has made indelible contributions to the integration and mutual learning of Chinese and Western cultures.
To this day, Jingdezhen is still a "holy place" in the hearts of potters around the world. Under the background of the implementation of the "going out" strategy of Chinese culture, Jingdezhen consciously undertakes the mission of the "Belt and Road" cultural messenger, embraces the world with an open mind, and attracts more than 30,000 ceramic artists from more than 40 countries and regions around the world to exchange and create here every year.
Generation Z young students from 14 countries participated in the "Generation Z Porcelain Edge" International Youth Porcelain Festival at the Jingdezhen Huangyao Ceramics Cultural Experience Center. (Photo by Huang Yuanke, reporter of Jingdezhen Daily)
Jingdezhen haunts me
"Thanks to the 'Z Generation Porcelain Edge' International Youth Porcelain Festival, which made my dream come true." Qiao An'an, an international student from Madagascar, said excitedly that she was a junior at Jiangxi Normal University and had dreamed of coming to Jingdezhen to learn ceramic culture since she was a child.
On December 13th, Qiao An'an and Generation Z international youth from 14 countries around the world gathered in Jingdezhen to get close to the roots of ceramic culture in the millennium porcelain capital and experience the profound traditional Chinese culture.
At the Huangyao Ceramics Culture Experience Center, generation Z international young students personally experienced the blank and gave a vivid and interesting ceramic culture practice class. Anto, an international student from Indonesia, said that he was the first time to come to Jingdezhen and the first time to experience making ceramics, "I will cherish my first ceramic work."
Just the next day, the 2021 China-Japan-Korea Ceramic Culture, Art and Tourism Week was grandly opened in Jingdezhen. The millennium porcelain has opened its arms to welcome guests from all over the world and open a new model of foreign cultural exchanges.
"Jingdezhen is the hometown of ceramics, and I am very excited to come to Jingdezhen to learn ceramic culture." Kim Chen-kun, cultural counselor of the South Korean Embassy in China and president of the Korean Academy of Culture, said that he hoped that Jingdezhen and South Korea would carry out more such cultural exchange activities. In the future, as long as he has the opportunity, he will definitely come to Jingdezhen.
"Jingdezhen is a 'paradise' for pottery." Korean potter Liang Kuanshi believes that all potters in South Korea and even the world should come to Jingdezhen to feel the cultural charm of the thousand-year-old porcelain capital.
At the special exhibition of the 2021 China-Japan-Korea Culture and Art Exhibition of "Various Instruments and Instruments", nearly 100 works of art by more than 20 artists were dazzling. Li Jianshen, chief curator of the special exhibition, said that the purpose of holding this special exhibition is to bring together the enthusiasm and creativity of China, Japan and South Korea, so that everyone can appreciate East Asian culture, understand Chinese ceramics, and feel the enthusiasm of porcelain.
Li Jianshen is the founder of The Three Treasures International Pottery Village. For more than 20 years, he has been committed to the promotion and exchange of ceramic culture. From the official opening to the present, The Sanbao International Ceramics Village has received nearly 10,000 overseas ceramic artists and has become an important folk force in spreading Chinese ceramic culture.
Today, with the influence of the Sanbao International Ceramics Village, the Sanbao International Porcelain Valley has long been transformed into an art settlement, "popping" out hundreds of ceramic studios, full of artists of different skin colors and different styles of art.
"If you like porcelain, this is your 'paradise.'" Turkish ceramic artist Ekrem Yazezhe said that when he first came to Jingdezhen, it was as if he saw the life of his dreams, staying for 12 years.
In Jingdezhen, Yazezhe strives to learn from ceramicsmiths, perfectly blending Turkish and Chinese culture and presenting them through his own works of art. This further strengthened his ideal of "making ceramics all his life".
It is precisely under the efforts of Yazezhe and other people from all walks of life that on November 15 this year, Jingdezhen and Iznik in Turkey officially concluded a sister city. Yazezhe said that he hopes to become a messenger of culture and trade between China and Turkey and make every effort to promote cultural exchanges between the two countries.
I will never leave for the rest of my life
In the eyes of overseas ceramic artists who have crossed the ocean, Jingdezhen has long become a new window for them to experience China's development and perceive Chinese culture, giving them deep and lasting creativity.
Created by Lei Fei Li Jingdezhen Studio. (Photo by Yin Menghao)
Taking root, Canadian artist Lei Feili, who has been "staying" in Jingdezhen for 25 years, has fully integrated into this oriental town full of kilns.
In 1996, Lei Feili was invited to Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute as a visiting scholar, and became acquainted with porcelain plate paintings, and fell in love with Jingdezhen ever since. He blended British watercolor paintings with Chinese ink paintings and blue and white porcelain plate paintings to create his own artistic style.
"There is no place in the world that can make the life of ceramics burst into new colors like Jingdezhen." Lei Feili said that coming to Jingdezhen was the best decision in his life, "I will stay in Jingdezhen until I am old." ”
On the first floor of his Jingdezhen studio, Yasuda is neatly arranged with porcelain-making tools and materials, as well as antiques he collects at the flea market. (Photo by Yin Menghao)
Like Lei Feili, the Japanese-British potter Yasuda Meng's love for Jingdezhen is deep and passionate.
Before coming to Jingdezhen, Yasuda had been studying ceramic art for more than 40 years and blue and white porcelain for ten years, but he had been lacking progress. He knows very well that the source of blue and white porcelain is in China, in Jingdezhen.
In 2005, Yasuda, who was over the age of flower armor, came to Jingdezhen from England from thousands of miles away to search for the code of the millennium kiln fire. Since then, he has fallen in love with this ancient city in the East, staying for 14 years, immersed in the production of blue and white porcelain.
In Yasuda's view, no city in the world is as charming as Jingdezhen: thousands of ceramic workshops burst out of unparalleled creativity every day.
"It was Jingdezhen that changed me." Yasuda said that in Jingdezhen, he saw the roots of Chinese culture, and he could not do without it all his life.
For all those who come and stay because of porcelain, Jingdezhen is the only one.
Australian potters Diana (left) and Liu Yuanchang pose in front of the co-created "Heart of the Ocean" work. (Photo by Xinhua news agency reporter Cao Kai)
In 2004, Australian ceramicist Diana came to Jingdezhen. The craftsman's superb porcelain-making skills fascinated Diana. What attracts her even more, however, is the open, inclusive cultural appeal embodied in porcelain.
"Jingdezhen is a ceramic holy city that belongs to all mankind, and there is no second one in the world." Diana said that there are too many potters and skilled craftsmen here, and many artistic dreams can be realized here.
Today, many of Diana's ceramic works in Jingdezhen have already crossed the ocean and been exhibited in museums and galleries in the United States, Australia, Switzerland, Lebanon and other places. These Chinese cultural symbols have also gone to the world with her works.
American ceramic artist Ryan Rabar makes porcelain at the Tao Xichuan Studio in Jingdezhen. (Web Photo)
Walking into the studio of American ceramic artist Ryan Rabar in TaoXichuan, Jingdezhen, a variety of works with different shapes are pouring in, and a work called "Embrace" is particularly eye-catching: a ribbon of porcelain strips, which surrounds the blue and white porcelain vase in a curly posture, and perfectly blends Western beauty and Oriental culture.
"The porcelain strip is like me, and the porcelain bottle is Jingdezhen." Jingdezhen and I hugged each other. "Many of Rabar's works show the abstract beauty of Western modern art, but the raw materials and production methods used are All Jingdezhen handmade porcelain techniques, which are deeply branded with "Jingdezhen symbols".
"Jingdezhen is full of 'creative energy.'" In Rabbar's view, his coming to Jingdezhen is like "wandering home", and everything here attracts him. In the end, he chose to settle in Jingdezhen, integrating himself into the city's thousands of lights.
I can't wait to come back
Jingdezhen has been an immigrant city since ancient times, and craftsmen from all over the world are the ancient "Jing drift". Nowadays, thousands of foreign ceramic artists come to Jingdezhen every year for the art of hand-making porcelain. Like migratory birds, they return home on Christmas Eve every year and return to Jingdezhen in the spring of the following year.
In December 2019, Yasuda and his wife Friste Alief returned to the UK for a vacation, originally planning to return to Jingdezhen after Christmas. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been stranded in the UK for more than two years.
"I've been making ceramics all my life, and all the porcelain making is done in Jingdezhen." Yasuda said that now he can't make ceramics by hand, which is very frustrating for craftsmen like him, "I can't wait to go back to Jingdezhen to make porcelain."
For the potter, Jingdezhen is 'paradise' and I miss life there. Fristy Alief said she and her husband feel the same way.
French ceramic artist Kaimi (right) interacts with local ceramic artists in Jingdezhen. (Photo by Xinhua news agency reporter Cheng Di)
When he was still a student, the French ceramic artist Kaimi visited Jingdezhen several times. Every time she left Jingdezhen, she felt like "poor Lin Daiyu, her soul was lost." ”
In 2016, Kaimi made up his mind to settle in Jingdezhen. "Jingdezhen is a city that gives me a lot of emotional resonance." Kaimi said that the free and exuberant artistic atmosphere here makes it difficult for her to resist.
Since then, Kaimi has been staying in Jingdezhen and devoting himself to creation. "For me, the art life in Jingdezhen was a great experience." Now, Kaimi's greatest wish is to hold a personal ceramic art exhibition in France and China, so that more people can see the artistic achievements of Sino-French cultural exchanges.
"Many friends envy me for not leaving Jingdezhen." Kaimi said that she met many international friends in Jingdezhen who "drifted" in Jingdezhen like her, "After many people return to China, because of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, no matter how much they are worried about Jingdezhen, they can't come back now." ”
"Although I am in Sweden, my heart is in Jingdezhen." Because of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, The Swedish ceramic artist Taoston Guer, who has been away from Jingdezhen for more than two years, said that he has been looking for ways to return to Jingdezhen, "I think only in Jingdezhen can I have the creative environment I want." ”
Civilizations are enriched by exchanges, and civilizations are enriched by mutual learning. Once Jingdezhen, has created the glory of "craftsmen come from all directions, the instrument into the world"; today's Jingdezhen is striving to achieve the perfect transformation from the source of the Silk Road to the cultural messenger of the "Belt and Road", and to go to the center of the world stage with a confident attitude to tell the Chinese story of ceramic culture to the world. (Reporter Feng Liangcheng Wanhai Zhang Yi)