THE PREMIO FAENZA: DIVERSITY, INNOVATION AND GLOBAL INTERCONNECTEDNESS

The 63rd Premio Faenza (Faenza Prize), International Biennial of Contemporary Ceramic Art, one of the most important and recognised in the world in this field, took placed at the MIC Faenza in Italy from 28 June to 30 November.

The Premio Faenza – International Biennial of Contemporary Ceramics, showcases the diversity, innovation, and global interconnectedness of the contemporary ceramics scene. This biennial event is a vibrant reflection of the current state of ceramic art worldwide, highlighting evolving trends, emphasizing artistic self-conceptions, and opening spaces in which ceramics fluidly traverse the fields of art, craft, and design. The 63rd edition of the Biennale impressively confirmed how significantly interest in ceramics as a serious medium of artistic expression has grown over the past decades – both among artists and within critical discourse.

From more than 1,300 submissions, an international jury – Claudia Casali (Director, MIC Faenza), Hyeyoung Cho (Korea Association of Art & Design), Valentins Petjko (Latvian Ceramic Biennale), and Marco Maria Polloniato (curator) – selected 109 artists from 70 countries. Their works reflect – through stylistic diversity and expressive depth – the urgent issues of our time: social insecurity, environmental crises, war, human fragility, inequality, and the question of sustainable futures.

Hanna Miadzvedzeva Wang Yuzhe Olivia Barisano Yaerin Pyun

Since the previous 62nd edition (2023), the Faenza Prize has been awarded in two age categories: Over 35 and Under 35. This division makes it possible to highlight and equally recognize both established positions and emerging young talents – a curatorial approach that acknowledges the heterogeneity of contemporary ceramic practice. In both categories, the jury awarded one main prize. Awarded the prize in the Over 35 category, artist Hanna Miadzvedzeva (1988, Belarus/Poland) received recognition for her work November – a sculptural form referencing the vessel as one of the oldest ceramic archetypes. In the Under 35 category, Léa Renard (1993, France) impressed the jury with her installation Subtle Conversations of States of Mind – a multifaceted ceramic cabinet of curiosities that fascinates through the finely balanced interplay of individual objects and their overall effect.

Aya Murata Renard Lea

In addition to the main prizes, several special awards were also presented to honor outstanding artistic contributions. This year’s recipients include Marta Palmieri (Prize Presidenza della Camera dei Deputati), Martin Smith (Prize Presidenza del Senato della Repubblica), Yaerin Pyun (Monica Biserni Award), Francesco Ardini (Eleuterio Ignazi Memorial Award), Mattia Vernocchi and Francesco Bocchini (Rotary Award), Martina Cioffi (Lions Award), and Su Yen-Ying, who received the silver medal from D’A Magazine. Several additional works received honorable mentions, including those by Claire Lindner, Wang Yuzhe, Rūta Šipalytė, and Juliette Clovi.