Form & Fire.

20 September to 24 November

A diverse collection of inspiring, eccentric and beautiful pottery from the 1960s to now will star in the new exhibition Form & Fire at Canterbury Museum at CoCA.
This celebration of Canterbury pottery features more than 160 artworks from the Museum’s collection and is only running for a limited time of 2 months. The show includes an electric blue flying saucer from the 1980s, masterworks from the 1960s, and pieces by famed Kiwi artists like Doris Holland, who painted under the name Doris Lusk.

Highlights include works by international grand masters like Bernard Leach from the United Kingdom and Shōji Hamada of Japan, along with beautiful pieces by New Zealand artists like Margaret Ryley, Yvonne Rust, Wyn Reed and David Brokenshire, many of which have not been on public display for decades.

Form & Fire is a panoramic overview of Canterbury pottery revealing changing trends and the emergence of a unique New Zealand style. Experience the textured craft work of the 1960s, the eccentric wonders of the 1970s, the stark minimalism of the 1980s and the colourful exuberance of the 1990s. Get inspired by this unique collection of pottery and learn about an art form that is surging in popularity once again.

The exhibition is the legacy of a long relationship between Canterbury Museum and the Canterbury Potters Association (CPA). The Museum has hosted the group’s annual shows since 1991 and has acquired work from Canterbury potters since the 1960s.

Later in the exhibition, the Canterbury Potters Association will hold its annual sale show of artworks by its members. The CPA show, with all the works on sale, will be held inside the exhibition from 6 to 24 November. Buy a beautiful piece of pottery to take home.

Exhibition runs from 20 September to 24 November, 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Free entry; donations appreciated.

Teapot Meditations: The practical poetry of Chris Weaver

6 Sep–20 Oct 2024 at Objectspace Ōtautahi

Chris Weaver has plied his trade for the past 30 years from the modest studio he built in 1980 at Kaniere on the outskirts of the remote coastal town of Hokitika. Weaver transcends what it means to be a potter: he has successfully prosecuted a union between the practical and the poetic to become Aotearoa’s foremost designer of luxurious handmade tableware.

Weaver insists on making objects only for practical use. Functionalism is the rubric under which his ‘aesthetics of usefulness’ has taken shape. His approach is to go beyond conventional modes of production that bequeath ceramic objects their familiar formal expression. In assembling examples of his work from three decades, this exhibition contemplates Weaver’s distinctive and unconventional oeuvre.

The basis of Weaver’s formal innovation derives from his reinvention of procedures and tools for making pottery. Since the advent of the pottery wheel, the form of ceramic vessels has customarily been determined by symmetry and its contingencies. The initial development of Weaver’s wares is consistent with this tradition — invariably, they begin with a cylinder thrown on the wheel. This, however, is where his adherence to convention ceases. 

With the alacrity of an engineer and a haptic intelligence honed through intimate knowledge of the material affordances of clay, Weaver reconfigures the vessel by compressing, slicing, squashing, incising, faceting or simply flipping them on their sides. These meticulous operations give rise to immaculate form, crisply executed and with utmost fidelity to detail.

Weaver’s ambition is to create aesthetic interventions in quotidian life. He invests utilitarian objects with a character that elevates our experiences of everyday domestic ritual.

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Chris Weaver is a critically acclaimed potter who lives in Kaniere, east of Hokitika, Te Waipounamu. He first encountered clay as a young boy when his father was digging steps in a bank at the bottom of the family property in Nelson. From this clay he fashioned his first pots and a lifetime fascination for the possibilities of pottery began. Weaver graduated from Otago Polytechnic, Ōtepoti Dunedin, in 1976 with a Diploma in Fine and Applied Arts (with distinction) in design and sculpture and a Certificate in Ceramics. His work has been exhibited throughout New Zealand and in Australia, Germany, the United States, China and Japan. Over the course of his professional career Weaver has accepted many invitations to travel both nationally and internationally, demonstrating, teaching and exhibiting. He is the recipient of numerous national awards and grants and is represented in public and private collections within Aotearoa and abroad.

Richard Fahey is a senior lecturer within the School of Creative Industries, Unitec, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, where he has taught design and contemporary art since 1992. His research activity is focused on the material culture of Aotearoa. As an independent writer, critic and advocate, he addresses contemporary cultural production and its reception via the historical and institutional contexts of education, critical discourse, collection and exhibition. His research takes the forms of writing, curating and participation in the visual arts sector as a teacher, assessor and critic. Fahey has produced a number of curated exhibitions for Objectspace related to his enthusiasm for contemporary ceramics: Clay Economies (2008), Richard Parker: Master of Craft (2010) and Tender Brick: The Material Epiphanies of Peter Hawkesby (2021).

Hallswell Pottery Group

We are gearing up for our exhibition, taking place from September 14-15th at Christchurch’s Malthouse. We’d love to see all our pottery friends at the exhibition opening, September 13th, 6pm-8pm, 71 Colombo St. Prizes will be awarded and refreshments provided. The exhibition is then running over the remainder of the weekend, 10am -3pm Saturday and Sunday. Please help spread the word by sharing our Facebook event. Coming up is also our annual wood firing and pit firing in October, two of the most exciting events in our calendar. Later, we’ve got our Christmas market in December to round off the year.

Canterbury Potters Association

We’ve had a really busy few weeks finalising the visit from Kwak Kyungtae and Marco Minetti, and what a marvellous experience for all the participants.  We owe a huge debt of thanks to Ceramics New Zealand, the Asia NZ Foundation and Macs Mud for making it all possible.  Kwak and Marco are wonderful to watch in action, consummate professionals and we cannot wait to see what CANZ have in the pipeline for us in the future.

The next few months are going to be really busy for our club.  We are hosting Jack Troy with is workshop on altered forms, and we are now into full swing planning for our annual exhibition which will once again be hosted by Canterbury Museum.  We are also starting to look ahead to the spring and summer months and the annual Christmas market. 

www.canterburypotters.co.nz