Clay Week 2026

Clay Week 2026 Expressions of Interest Submissions have closed

If you have made a submission to run an event or activity in Clay Week 2026 you may now have received an email such as the following:

FROM: Nelson Clay Week

Kia ora Thanks again for submitting an application for Nelson Clay Week 2026! We wanted to confirm that your application has been received and we will be selecting events over the coming weeks. If we require any further information, we’ll contact you directly. Otherwise, we’ll be in touch with you over the coming weeks. If you have any questions about your application or any general enquiries, you can email hello@clayweek.co.nz Ngã mihi Nelson Clay Week Team

hello@clayweek.co.nz is the official communication channel for all enquiries related to the bi-annual event hosted in Nelson in early October 2026.

Getting Ceramics and Ceramicists back into The Suter Art Gallery

As we mark the the final week of the bi-annual ceramics exhibition Fire & Earth at the Suter (closing Sunday 18th Jan, 2026), we will have until July 2027 to reinvigorate the local ceramics exhibition scene.

While Fire & Earth is also supported by an alternating bi-annual event in Clay Week, it may appear as if ceramics in Nelson & Marlborough is alive and well. It is, but we aren’t flashy or tall poppies in this region of NZ either…

That’s why we need to remember to participate in the art of expression and exhibition more than once every other year – that’s why The Nelson Suter Art Society, via members such as Peter Gibbs (Ceramicist), are calling for a renewed and fresh membership by working and/or retired potters at the Nelson Suter Art Society – offering a meeting place and a space for people to exhibit their works and see others from the area outside of Fie & Earth every two years:

To encourage clay workers back into the Suter several times a year, the society want to encourage people to apply for membership of the art society.

For people who want to join – here’s a link: https://www.nsas.net.nz/contact-9-1

*Peter Gibbs, an integral local ceramicist among others who helped take Nelson in the 70s and 80s to the national stage and help pave the way for a more democratic and open National Exhibition pathway for NZ potters. Peter was an editor of the Clay News newsletter and writer on Ceramics in the Listener, Craft NZ, and other publications for many years.