PAUL GREENHALGH : THE WEIGHT OF BEING: THOUGHTS FROM THE CERAMIC PAST

Royal College of Art, Kensington. Lecture Theatre 1.

318 Ceramics and the Crafts Study Centre are pleased to announce that the 2024 Emmanuel Cooper Memorial Lecture will be given by Paul Greenhalgh.

How did ceramic artists of the past think about their practice? How did they position their practice in their respective cultures? How does this impact contemporary ceramic? This lecture will explore the underlying nature of ceramic history, arguing that it is a ‘thing in itself,’ rather than a branch of art history dependent on other disciplines. Using several case studies from antiquity onwards, finishing in the contemporary, the lecture will look at the theoretical and empirical characteristics of the ceramic past, to identify what makes it relevant today.

Paul Greenhalgh is a historian, writer and curator. He trained as a painter before becoming an art historian, and first encountered ceramic in his first teaching job at Cardiff College of Art. He recently retired from his role as Director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation. His previous roles include Director of the Sainsbury Centre (UK), Director and President of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington DC), President of NSCAD University (Canada), and Head of Research at the V&A Museum. He has curated exhibitions and taught in art schools and universities in a number of countries. His books include Modernism in Design (1990), Art Nouveau 1890-1914 (2000), The Modern Ideal (2004), The Persistence of Craft (2009), Fair World (2010), Pablo Picasso: the Legacy of Youth (2020); and Ceramic Art and Civilisation (2021).

The Emmanuel Cooper Memorial Lecture is presented by the Crafts Study Centre in partnership with 318 Ceramics to celebrate the life and work of renowned potter Emmanuel Cooper.

For more information about previous speakers of the Emmanuel Cooper Memorial Lecture series CLICK HERE.

The lecture is free to attend but advance booking is essential.