Ware to share

A rich ceramic atmosphere has taken shape in the city, as artisans have inherited one generation after another the spirit of craftsmanship featuring diligence, perfection and innovation in a process that turns a handful clay into a refined porcelain ware. This rich scene has drawn foreign artists over the years. To date, more than 5,000 artists from abroad have started a life in Jingdezhen, according to local authorities. Many have settled down and married locals.

A good many foreign ceramic artists have joined their Chinese counterparts in Jingdezhen and have managed to sell their works of art online or through livestreaming in recent years.

More than 2,600 ceramic workshops at the Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue in the city have staged livestreaming events on popular Chinese video-sharing app Douyin, with sales exceeding 2 billion yuan ($311 million) as of September.

French artist Camille Kami says she was impressed by the mass ceramic industry during a trip to Jingdezhen a decade ago.

"There were such variety of artworks in the city back then already, which was very attractive to me," Kami says.

She studied ceramics in the Netherlands, Britain and Switzerland before moving to Jingdezhen in 2015. Kami has since lived in the city.

"I love slow-paced life very much, and, therefore, I prefer a small city like Jingdezhen, which also happens to be so open to the outside world," Kami says. "It's like the best of both worlds."

Kami now speaks fluent Chinese after years of communication with locals and runs two workshops in Jingdezhen. She sometimes draws inspiration from Chinese fairy tales and adds to them some French elements out of her own imagination. She enjoys working and chatting with other ceramic artists. Unlike her earlier experiences in Europe, Kami says it's very easy for her to get help during an art project in Jingdezhen.

"You can find experts in every single step of ceramic-making," Kami says, adding that it is exciting to deliver a work with other artists. "It is one of the reasons why I love the city so much."