More than a hundred potters from 34 countries participated in the 2nd International Pottery Festival, organized by Menemen Municipality with the theme of 'Sensitivity and Solidarity' between 15-17 September. Friendship and sweet competition took place in the events that were watched with interest by local and foreign guests.
ASSOC. PROF. M. CANDAN GUNGOR
The International Menemen Pottery Festival, which was held for the second time this year in Menemen district of Izmir, realized in Menemen City Park between 15-17 September 2023. More than a hundred potters from 34 countries participated in the 2nd International Pottery Festival organized by Menemen Municipality with the theme of 'Sensitivity and Solidarity'. Within the scope of the festival, the Ceramic Bird House competition exhibition, panels, ceramic workshops, and firing techniques workshops were held. In addition to local and foreign guests, citizens from Izmir and surrounding districts showed great interest in the events.
Competition and friendship were hand in hand in the Skilled Hands Pottery Competition held on the second and third days of the festival. In competitions held in various categories; the winner of the Masters Technical Branch was Oktay Ide, the second was Ayhan Ide, and the third was Ali Hikmet Koc. In the Masters Aesthetics Branch, Daniele Dakunto took the first place, Augusto Girolomini took the second place, and Gokhan Tashomcu took the third place. The winner of the Amateur Aesthetics Branch was Elif Kazan, the second was Busra Kaya, and the third was Abdullah Oruc. The pottery masters who received their awards from the protocol were very happy.
In his speech at the award and closing ceremony of the festival, Menemen Deputy Mayor Aydin Pehlivan, who organized the festival, stated that the soil of Menemen has come to life with skillful hands for thousands of years and that he was very proud and happy to host world-famous pottery masters within the scope of this festival and continued his words as follows: “Within the scope of our 2. International Menemen Pottery Festival, our esteemed academicians shed light on the journey of 'The Place of Clay in Art and Design' from past to present for two days; Our pottery masters, who devoted their lives to the earth, competed with each other to make the most beautiful works of art in the world in the pottery competition. Of course, there were winners in the Skilled Hands Menemen Pottery Competition, but I think the winner was the pottery industry, our Menemen. We had a dream when we set out to realize this festival. And that was to be able to hold this festival, which was long overdue, at the level it should be within our means. In this way, we would be able to revitalize the neglected Menemen pottery and bring it to a level where it can compete with the world. I am very happy that we achieved this after three days and that we brought the world together in Menemen. The winner of our festival was our Menemen, our pottery industry, and friendship. We hosted the world at our festival. This pride belongs to all of us.”
The 2nd International Menemen Pottery Festival, which took place with a wide participation in the field of ceramics, moved towards a new beginning with the proposal and programming of the events planned to be held next year.
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