14th Westerwald Prize 2019: Ceramics of Europe

Description

The Westerwald Prize is awarded to outstanding ceramic works in a competition. As in previous years, the 74 works selected from 425 submissions, which are now presented in the publication, demonstrate the high aesthetic and artistic standards of ceramic works throughout Europe. Text in English and German. While the award's founding aim was to promote dialogue between ceramics and art in the Westerwald region - with Hoehr-Grenzhausen as its centre - the great interest in the Westerwald Award and the geopolitical developments of recent years prompted the organisers, back in 1999, to publish their call for entries no longer nationally, but Europe-wide. As a result of this decision, intra-European cultural exchange has been moving increasingly into the focus since then. Moreover, this dissolution of boundaries is lastingly reflected in the quality of the submitted works. This year once again, the 74 pieces selected from among 425 submissions for exhibition and publication prove the high material and artistic sophistication of works of ceramic throughout Europe. However, the primary representatives of this are, of course, the award-winners Johannes Nagel and Jesse Magee for Free Ceramics, Monika Debus and Franz Julien for Saltfired Ceramics (Award by the Town of Hoehr-Grenzhausen) along with Hyunjin Kim, who received the Talent Prize.