This course includes a practical and a theoretical part. The teacher Nathalie Doyen will teach a technique inspired by nature (such as lichens or molluscs adhering to a rock) and through repetitive gestures will lead the participants to a meditative concentration necessary to develop wonderful textures. During this course, the tactile qualities and velvety colours of clay will be examined. Participants will have the opportunity to make both a sample and small objects by practising the technique of artist and teacher Nathalie Doyen. The lessons are totally practical in addition to a theoretical chapter, firing and materials and a DPF (Frequently Asked Questions) session.

Nathalie Doyen Nathalie Doyen was born in Algiers in 1964. She has been exhibiting in Belgium and abroad since 1987. She has been an artist in residence in France, Portugal, Italy, China and Quebec. She teaches ceramics at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Namur, Belgium. Works on permanent display in Belgium: in Brussels, at the Galerie de l'Ô ; in Mons at the WCC-BF; in Morlanwelz at the Musée Royale de Mariemont. IN QUEBEC: in the Bois de Belle-Rivière regional park. IN CHINA: at the FuLe International Ceramics Art Museum, the FLICAM, Fuping and the "Bien dans son Assiette" commission. Member of the Collège des Alumni de l'Académie Royale de Belgique. Member of Smart asbl; Member of the World Craft Council - French-speaking Belgium. From 1983 to 1987: training at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Tournai X, under the guidance of Francis Behets and Richard Owzcarek.

The 20-hour workshop lasts from 9.00 to 17.00 on Friday and Saturday and from 9.00 to 16.00 on Sunday.

Teacher: Nathalie Doyen Languages: English, Italian, French

Download the full program in pdf

To confirm your inscription you have to make a bank transfer of a deposit or the total amount.

How much water should be added when preparing the glaze? How should you proceed to make a good application? In this course we want to introduce you to glazing ceramic artefacts by providing some basic specific skills. We will start with the knowledge of the products (Glazes, Transparent glazes, Colours, etc.) and their peculiarities, we will begin with how to proceed in their preparation and we will end with the opportunity to try out the main glazing techniques and a guide to ceramic firing. In particular, we will deal with application by immersion, spraying with an airbrush and brush glazing with the aid of special vehicles that allow for better application. We will present the necessary steps to obtain effects in the coatings also with applications in several layers that will be made on clay supports, already fired, provided by the organisation.

Vilma Bosi In 1978 she began his work as a ceramist in Antonietta Mazzotti's workshop where he became passionate and specialised in the decoration of ceramic artefacts. During her career, she collaborated with the Diva ceramics industry where she was in charge of the hand-decorated department and laboratory. Over time, her specialisation became the third fire (mainly gold and precious) thanks to which she collaborated with various artists and craftsmen in Italy. Among the most important are: La bottega Gatti, Fos Ceramiche, Padovani Ceramiche, Laboratorio Pesaro, Coralla Maiuri and Ceramic & Colours. In 2011, she was hired by Ceramic & Colours as laboratory manager, a role she still holds today. Since 2018 she has been teaching at the Faenza Art Ceramic Center.

To confirm your inscription you have to make a bank transfer of a deposit or the total amount.

Reproducing a shape for large or small productions, but also creating unique objects from a casting or pressure mould, simplifying the working processes; this is the dream of many ceramists. The teacher Marco Malavolti will present in an effective, simple and creative way an intensive programme on the basic techniques needed to make multi-part moulds for casting and pressure moulding. Participants will work on objects provided by the organisation on which the moulds will be made. The objects are designed to see different complexities and moulding techniques.

Marco Malavolti After graduating at Ballardini in Faenza, he started working in 1997 as a craftsman and immediately started collaborating with the International Museum of Ceramics, producing several works. At the same time, he also collaborated with Elena Agnini in Munich where he specialised in restoration. Also in 1997, he began teaching at the "T. Minardi" School where he held courses in basic and advanced ceramics. Over the next five years he specialised in moulding, becoming a reference point in Italy on this subject. In 2002, he opened Manifatture Sottosasso, structuring various activities: his own production linked to the world of design, collaborations with artists and galleries (the most important include: Garutti Alberto, Siedlecki Namsal, Previti Riccardo, Simeti Francesco, Ornaghi e Prestinari, Galleria Minini, Galleria Zero, Galleria Continua, Fondazione Officine Saffi, Galleria Nilufar). Also, production for companies and collaborations with museums where he mainly works on moulding (among the most important museums are: Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza, Museo di San Domenico and Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova and Museo Carlo Zauli).

The 20-hour workshop lasts from 9.00 to 17.00 on Friday and Saturday and from 9.00 to 16.00 on Sunday.

To confirm your inscription you have to make a bank transfer of a deposit or the total amount.

Paperclay course developed by Giovanni Cimatti

Dry clay, of all types, can find new life in the Paper Clay technique. In this course we will investigate how to use, in Paper version, Faenza; the Italian clay par excellence fired until it reaches its maximum hardness. Experiences will be made on how to make forms: by casting with liquid clay mixture in cardboard moulds or with assemblages of dry clay slabs. The forms will then be finished with engobes and crystallines applied on raw and fired once in the so-called single firing.

Giovanni Cimatti Giovanni Cimatti was a teacher at the Art Institute in Siena, director of the 'T. Minardi' School of Drawing and Plastic Art in Faenza and teacher at the State Art Institute for Ceramics in Faenza. He began his artistic activity in the 1970s, developing a personal research on the relationship between form and surface by reworking various techniques such as sangam clay decorations, raku, decalcomania, and terra sigillata, and for years he has also been interested in high temperature. He has been invited to important international ceramic art exhibitions, has held solo exhibitions by invitation in Belgium, Japan, Holland, Korea and Switzerland and has participated in cultural exchanges in France, Japan and Germany. He has had solo exhibitions: at the Museum of Contemporary Art at Kyungshung University in Pusan, Korea, at the Ceratekno Gallery in Toki City, Japan, and at the Museo Civico Archeologico in Bergamo.

The 14-hour course starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. on Saturday and starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. on Sunday.

An innovative technique for the application of ceramic glazes.

Giovanni Cimatti presents, as a preview at Ceramics, one of his innovations in the application of all glazes, at any temperature and on all single-fired clays. The method involves the use of any commercial and non-commercial glaze that is transformed into a plastic sheet. These glaze films can be cut out and applied to fresh plastic clays that will then receive all the variations in use in the mould moulding process. During the course, particular research will be done on the fragmentation of glazes that will then be pressed by including them in the Faenze clay.

Giovanni Cimatti Giovanni Cimatti was a teacher at the Art Institute in Siena, director of the 'T. Minardi' School of Drawing and Plastic Art in Faenza and teacher at the State Art Institute for Ceramics in Faenza. He began his artistic activity in the 1970s, developing a personal research on the relationship between form and surface by reworking various techniques such as sangam clay decorations, raku, decalcomania, and terra sigillata, and for years he has also been interested in high temperature. He has been invited to important international ceramic art exhibitions, has held solo exhibitions by invitation in Belgium, Japan, Holland, Korea and Switzerland and has participated in cultural exchanges in France, Japan and Germany. He has had solo exhibitions: at the Museum of Contemporary Art at Kyungshung University in Pusan, Korea, at the Ceratekno Gallery in Toki City, Japan, and at the Museo Civico Archeologico in Bergamo.

The 14-hour course starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. on Saturday and starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. on Sunday.

This workshop is an introduction to making wafer-thin bowls with flax reïnforced porcelain on an inflated balloon, as well as discovering how to make a shrinking support on which the wafer-thin bowl can be hung upside down in the kiln. The first day you will start by getting to know this wonderful clay. Guy Van Leemput will teach techniques for applying patterns with the opportunity to practice yourself. Each participant will start a bowl with one of the demonstrated techniques. We will also make the swinging supports that will carry the piece in the kiln. After this first ‘maiden-bowl’ is finished you will be challenged to push your limits further with a second bowl on day 2. New 'advanced' techniques will be shown, for which we will use a mini clay press. The bowls made will be fired on the spot and can be taken home on day 3. The lessons are totally practical in addition to a theoretical chapter, firing and materials and a DPF (Frequently Asked Questions) session.

Guy Van Leemput Guy Van Leemput (1967, Herentals, Belgium) studied mathematics and ceramics. He has been invited several times for an artist-in-residence at the Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute, Jingdezhen, China. His work has been selected for competitions and group exhibitions in his own country and in other European countries, as well as in Japan, China and Australia. At the MINO International Ceramics Competition 2014, his work “Big Anas” won the Bronze Award, it is now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu, Japan. Guy was chosen as one of the Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artists 2020. In 2021 he was ‘recommended’ by the Michelangelo Foundation as ‘Master Artisan’. In 2022 he was a key speaker at ‘The Ceramics Congress, Australia’.

The 20-hour workshop lasts from 9.00 to 17.00 on Friday and Saturday and from 9.00 to 16.00 on Sunday.

Teacher: Guy Van Leemput Languages: English, Italian

Download the full program in pdf

To confirm your inscription you have to make a bank transfer of a deposit or the total amount.

In this particular course, you will learn how to formulate or modify the aesthetics of lowtemperature glazes. Low-temperature ceramic objects often need a "cover". which is called a glaze, required to make the ceramic object water-resistant and aesthetically conform to what is desired. What is needed to make a glaze? What frits and raw materials to combine to make it? How to modify a ready-made glaze? And how to proceed from test to test to achieve the desired effect? The teacher Claudio Gardenghi, an expert with over forty years of experience in some of the most important ceramic colour factories, will introduce participants to the world of lowtemperature glazes, also giving space for some personal research. In fact, thanks to the small number of participants, it will be possible both to work on bases provided by the organisation and to analyse, replicate or correct glazes deriving from participants' own research ("as long as they are suitable for low temperature"). All results will then be presented and shared with the class.

Claudio Gardenghi Graduated in Technological Education at the Art Institute for Ceramics 'G. Ballardini' in Faenza. During his working activity, he has developed collaborations with several Ceramic Colour Factories, including Colorobbia and Cover, as well as important ceramic industries such as Cooperativa Ceramica di Imola, La Faenza and Cerdomus. Over the years, he has been able to expand his experience in countless consulting assignments in different countries around the world )Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, China, South Africa and Iran.

The 32-hour workshop lasts from 9.00 to 17.00 on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and from 9.00 to 13.00 on Sunday.

To confirm your inscription you have to make a bank transfer of a deposit or the total amount.

Sweet Raku is an idea that Giovanni Cimatti came up with in the late 1990s and which differs from so-called Raku in that it has reduced fumigation and the use of chamotte-free clays.

Giovanni Cimatti's sweet raku in some of its declinations. During the course, forms will be made that simultaneously and in a single firing will have the orange colour of 'sealed earths', the transparencies of copper and non-copper crystallines, the lustres in copper reduction in gas kiln firing and the black of Raku smoke.

Giovanni Cimatti Giovanni Cimatti was a teacher at the Art Institute in Siena, director of the 'T. Minardi' School of Drawing and Plastic Art in Faenza and teacher at the State Art Institute for Ceramics in Faenza. He began his artistic activity in the 1970s, developing a personal research on the relationship between form and surface by reworking various techniques such as sangam clay decorations, raku, decalcomania, and terra sigillata, and for years he has also been interested in high temperature. He has been invited to important international ceramic art exhibitions, has held solo exhibitions by invitation in Belgium, Japan, Holland, Korea and Switzerland and has participated in cultural exchanges in France, Japan and Germany. He has had solo exhibitions: at the Museum of Contemporary Art at Kyungshung University in Pusan, Korea, at the Ceratekno Gallery in Toki City, Japan, and at the Museo Civico Archeologico in Bergamo.

The 14-hour course starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. on Saturday and starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. on Sunday.