Book Launch ‘Clay as language – Cup as book’ Saturday 11/2/23 at 11:30
Editor: Shlomit Bauman
Designer: Studio Keren and Golan / Language editing: Keren Gliklich / Production: Eliya Levi Yunger
Some of the writers: Prof. Einat Leader, Tamir Erlich, Dr Ayelet Zohar, Farid Abu Shakra, Dr Wendy Gers, Amnon Amos, Galit Gaon, Dr Daniel Metcalf, Prof. Eran Sharon, Hadas Ofrat, Shira Silverston, Noam Dover, Ravit Lazer and more.
Cup, Sculpture or Book?
The book ‘Clay as language – Cup as book’ is the second Hebrew book in the series that creates an index to ceramic making and material culture. This new collection is based on texts from the exhibitions that were exhibited in the Benyamini galleries over the past five years and were expanded specially for the book. Additional texts were commissioned covering subjects that overlap.
Looking back, we can see that the exhibitions covered six main themes: Craft, design, and art; Postcolonialism; Local – global; Natural and technological; Clay performance; Past, present, and future. These themes were not planned and are apparent when looking back but represent the essence of the activities of the galleries. These fields of knowledge are at the beginning of the journey that is the basis of the discussion on “material knowledge”. It is a broad journey that does not pretend to summarize this field but to hint at different and new directions of thoughts that could be the base for further discussion.
In the past few years there are changes in the international and local scene regarding the hierarchy of creativity and there is a trend of redefining fields such as art, design, and craft. Related to this we are witness to the revival of basic concepts such as ‘high’ and ‘low’ or the change of the value load of concepts such as ‘art’ and ‘craft’. There are many reasons for these changes but there is no doubt that they affect the relationship toward ceramics which is slowly becoming the passion for makers and numerous audiences – the place where ceramics artists have always been. The Benyamini Center has made a considerable contribution to this change locally.
The book is about ceramic making and the broad connections of the field as a response to the lack of writing and research abroad and especially in Israel. At the same time, the book develops a unique language relating to ceramic as an independent field that has an independent language. And so, this book poses the cup as a book and if not a book then a poem.
