This adventure was a collaboration between the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, West Virginia University and NCECA. The symposium was designed to give the participants an international experience and an opportunity to visit the porcelain capital of the world, Jingdezhen, China. The conference explored the differences and similarities between North American and Chinese ceramic work and education. There was an opportunity for everyone to see work from the people who visited and presented from North America and those faculty, students, and artists who attended and presented from China. We visited many historic and cultural ceramic sites and were able to see many different styles of working.

Wow! I had a long flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong, only to get back on a plane to Shanghai. Be prepared for some physical stress if you are traveling coach. After the planes, the NCECA group had an hour bus ride from Pudong Airport to the hotel. Nonetheless, I could feel my excitement rise through the exhaustion as we moved closer to our destination. When we arrived, students from the West Virginia University program guided us through a back alley, through a menʼs clothing store and upstairs to our hotel. We then had to give up our passports to be copied at the police station to receive the key to our room. We were asked to wait until we had our passports back before going too far; so, a few hours later, I retrieved my passport and walked across the pedestrian mall to the bank to exchange some dollars for yuan. After that, I was actually too tired to search out dinner. I went to bed and got a good nightʼs sleep.

Friday morning, I met Clarence Cruz, another member of our party; we went for a walk before breakfast, during which he told me about some of the projects he is working on. He explained how he has tried to bring the ceramic traditions back to the young people of his pueblo. Our plan, made at breakfast, was to go to the Shanghai Museum of Art. Retrieving my camera, I ran into James Herring on the stairway, so we walked over to the museum together. This was more exciting than it sounds, as the streets were crowded and difficult to maneuver. I was amazed that no one was run over by the cars, bikes, and scooters that whizzed around.

Standing in line at the museum, I was amused to watch the students as they waited to enter, flirting and talking just like students back home. Once inside, the breadth and beauty of the ceramic section took my breath away. Work from the beginning of Chinese ceramic history to the present day was displayed. As I wandered the exhibits, I spoke to different people from the NCECA group and they were equally amazed and impressed.

The Ceramics collection had work from 4800 bc to the early Twentieth Century. The scope showed work from a dizzying array of different areas and reigns in China. I saw examples of work I had seen in books and other styles that I had never seen. The most impressive pieces for me were the figurative works. They ranged in size from several inches to nearly life size figures, all expressed humanityʼs look, feelings, and style from an ancient culture. I had the feeling that I was looking at someone that had been alive and those human characteristics were noted by the artist. One in particular stood out; I really liked a fellow on camelback. I imagined him a traveler enjoying lifeʼs passage.

Many of the spectacular ancient bronzes shared similarities of form and design with the ceramic works. In fact, we found some pieces that were almost exact copies. Also, the jade exhibition had similar designs represented in both ceramic and jade. The traditional paintings were equally beautiful, the costumes from different cultures colorful and fun. As in all things Chinese, the sheer size of the different collectionʼs were stunning.

On Saturday, I visited the Yu Yuan Gardens, built in the Ming Dynasty. With gardens, rockeries, walkways, bridges, pools, startling architecture with dragons, rosewood furniture, a teahouse with sculptures on the rooflines, the garden was fun to explore and beautiful to see. Wandering around souvenir shops in old Shanghai, the Yixing teapot store was the biggest hit for our group. Many teapots found new homes.

That evening, Leah Schleif and I went for dinner. The first place we entered had a large assortment of dishes featuring bullfrog, tongue, intestines, and other protein sources that looked too adventurous for our pallet. We moved on to find excellent dim sum and noodles.

Sunday was a day to get us from Shanghai to Jingdezhen. When we arrived, Business students who were studying English from the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute helped us as interpreters. Taking advantage of them, a number of us walked around the campus of the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute where we found the studio of Yao Yongkang (Clayman), a professor at the Institute; he was kind enough to show us the sculptural works-in-progress.

Later, at dinner, there was much pomp and circumstance with welcomes from the Chinese and thank you from us. I sat with Andrew Li, a student from Beijing Art Academy, Wo Buda, an art historian from the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Li Shenkeng and his daughter Li Zhulin who are master carvers and would be presenting at the symposium. There were many, many, toasts so that we were all smiling by the end of dinner.

On Monday, lectures and demonstrations began. The introductions were made and the keynote lecture was by the president of the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Zhou Jinaʼer on “Ceramic Material Science and Ceramic Art Creation”. He spoke about the dramatic growth in education in ceramics in China during the last fifty years, mirroring the improvements in economic and living standards. Ceramic work centers have developed and improvements have been made in materials and industrial technology. The main link he feels between art and science in ceramics is the philosophical belief in the “truth, goodness, and beauty” as the path to “harmony” that Chinese people hope to attain in all their endeavors.

The next speaker was Elaine Olafsan Henry, ceramic artist and Editor of Ceramics: Art and Perception and Ceramics Technical magazines. Her lecture was “Ceramics Pedagogy in China and in the U.S.” Henry concluded from her research that Chinese and American teachers have much to learn from each other. China has a long history and a cultural ceramic tradition that America does not. They share similarities, as well. For example, American artists go to China to learn about the culture and techniques and to work away from everyday life just as the Chinese artists come to America to work. Then they return to their respective countries with new ways of being and making acquired through these new experiences. Henry stated that while there are many similarities to both countriesʼ teaching goals, China has much more competition for entrance into ceramic educational institutions, and, at the same time, there are many more opportunities. On the other hand, America has not promoted ceramic study and the opportunities are limited. In China, artists look to their own ceramic traditions for inspiration, both benefit and burden; in America, artists examine all cultures and traditions. She highlighted other contrasts in our educational and cultural views as well. For example, in Jingdezhen the tasks associated with ceramic production are separated — one person is a master thrower, another, a trimmer, and another, a decorator — while in the United States, one person is expected to be master of all tasks. Henry concluded that while there are similarities and differences, we all have much to teach and much to learn.

Clarence Cruz (Khuu Khaayay his native name) was the next speaker. He told the audience about the different styles of pueblo pottery that informs his work and teaching — Black on black, pots with incised decoration, and polychrome pottery. In the pueblo tradition, the maker becomes the guardian or parent of the clay through its journey from childhood to adulthood. Cruz explained, “Character, identity, and purpose are given through: forming and shaping, carving, slipping, polishing, designing, and the firing (the ring of fire, the birth).” He stated that cultural identity in pueblo culture, as in Chinese, comes from merging past and present; revitalization of pottery traditions is a means to connect people to history, place, space, and time.

Zhang Shou Zhi, Professor at the Art College at Tsinghua University, and a famous and beloved designer of ceramic dinnerware in China, was the next speaker. Zhang spoke on the history of ceramics in China and the progression of achievements. He stated that students today should work on improving craftsmanship and design as Chinese ceramics is focused almost exclusively on production, not quality. He spoke passionately about the importance of ceramics in Chinese culture and how it can lead, as it has done in the past, to advancements for Chinese society. The students at Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute were anxious to speak with him in every venue. At the opening of the faculty show, he was surrounded by many students wanting to hear his critique.

The final speaker of the day was Li Yanzu. He reminded us of the ten thousand years of ceramic production in China. Today, this production has caused serious pollution, used large quantities of energy, and produced low quality work. Beginning in 1980, university students could major in studio art as part of a ceramic education program. This has caused an evolution in thinking about and creating ceramic art in China. Today, students are interested in becoming studio artists; thus, the industrial positions are not filled by those with a university education. Li emphasized his belief that there should be industrial design programs, traditional programs, and contemporary programs to fulfill the demands for contemporary Chinese ceramics.

At the programʼs conclusion, there were two exhibition openings. The first was for those works by artists from the United States sponsored by NCECA. This show had some wonderful small works, as we had to carry the work with us as we traveled. One of my favorites was a tea set that was an explosion of color in the abstract expressionist style, by Canadian artist Susan Macdonald. The second show consisted of works from faculty members at the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute. I found the mixture of modern aesthetics and forms married to ancient techniques fascinating.