Ancient ceramic hub set for boost

Porcelain craftsmen from home and abroad say the plan of turning Jingdezhen, a Chinese city renowned for its 1,700-year history of manufacturing porcelain, into a world ceramic cultural center, will attract more skilled artisans to introduce new ideas, strengthen exchanges and stimulate the development of the ceramic industry.

In early October, the government of eastern China's Jiangxi province revealed details of a new plan to build Jingdezhen into a national ceramic culture inheritance and innovation pilot zone. One of its primary missions is to enhance international ceramic cultural exchanges and cooperation.

"It's nice and interesting to me, and also for all international artists who come here, to exchange thoughts and ideas on each others work. People from Europe, Africa, America have come here to experience Chinese culture and learn from the Chinese," says Christiane Toewe, a German ceramic artist who has visited Jingdezhen three times in recent years.

"At home, I have a big workspace, but it is refreshing to take a break, come here for three months and work on new projects," Toewe says.

As one of the areas with the highest concentration of artistic talent in China, Jingdezhen has over 30,000 artists, including 5,000 foreigners, living in the city. These artists are known as jingpiao and foreigners as yangjingpiao.

Moreover, the city now boasts more than 6,700 ceramic enterprises and workshops and around 150,000 people work in porcelain-related industries.

For Japanese ceramist Takeshi Yasuda and his wife, who have lived in the city for 17 years, Jingdezhen is not only their creation base but also their second home.

In Yasuda's eyes, foreign artists chose to come to Jingdezhen as it is a place where they can learn advanced skills in craftsmanship. In addition, artists are able to acquire precious materials and equipment to turn their visions into reality, which is sometimes difficult to achieve in their own countries.

"Jingdezhen is a spectacle. You have new discoveries here every year. Its well-developed industry environment has attracted many young artists to start their business and create their own works," says Yasuda.

As the city speeds up to transform itself into a world ceramic cultural center by 2035, Yasuda says Jingdezhen is taking a new development path." The future of Jingdezhen will be brighter as it is building cultural confidence at a higher and more international level."

Lee Taxoo, a ceramic artist from the Republic of Korea, spends three to four months every year collecting porcelain fragments in Jingdezhen. He splices the pieces into new ceramic works at the bottom of old bowls-a project which he has named Rebirth.

"Jingdezhen is a special place for porcelain artists. It has a long history of handmade ceramics, which is important for ceramic cultural inheritance," says Lee. "In China, I have more opportunities to exchange design ideas about my work with global artists."

According to the plan, more high-level porcelain talent will be introduced to Jingdezhen, and both domestic and foreign scientific research and art institutions, along with relevant creative think tanks, are encouraged to establish branches in the pilot zone.

More preferential policies tailored for the talent, such as housing, resettlement of spouses and children's education, as well as loans for startups, will also be rolled out.

"Jingdezhen is an inclusive city, with skilled craftsmen from all over the world gathering here," says local porcelain artist Zeng Yalin. "The pilot zone will bring historical opportunities for the city, which expects to attract more artists from home and abroad to exchange new ideas and craftsmanship techniques to stimulate the development of the ceramic industry."