RESPONSE: Clay creatives

Sydney Ceramics Market is back, showcasing more than 120 ceramicists from across NSW and ACT. From statement sculptural pieces to unique tableware, you can shop and connect directly with the makers and hear the story behind the piece (or pieces!) you take home. You can also get your hands muddy with live wheel-throwing demos to inspire your own practice.

The event grew from the inspiration of two friends, ceramicist Melody Brunton and photographer/content producer Samee Lapham. They met through a market themselves and wanted to uplift, educate and create community around the medium of clay.

Supported by Australian Design Centre to secure a bigger venue to hold the event as part of the Festival in 2023, and again in 2024, it's exciting to see this enterprise grow.

Held over two days this year in the larger venue of Bays 22–24 at Sydney's historic Carriageworks, come along to discover, meet, and support ceramic artists and makers showcasing the potential of clay in all its wonderfully diverse forms.

Sydney Ceramics Market is a major event of Sydney Craft Week Festival 2024.

Saturday 19 October and Sunday 20 October, 10am–5pm, entry $6. Book here. @sydneyceramicsmarket

What made you start Sydney Ceramics Market in 2022?
It emerged from a desire to celebrate the immense ingenuity and diversity in the craft of ceramics across NSW. We saw a need for a new way of bringing together the clay community and introducing more people to the wide range of makers’ works we’d fallen in love with, and to encourage more people to collect pieces made by local creatives. It all fell into place really quickly as though it was just meant to be!

What is the appeal of ceramics?
It’s an accessible art form to bring into your home. It’s tactile, it’s obtainable, and it’s diverse in creativity. It’s also very practical, a way to elevate an everyday meal with friends and family. Clay as a medium has a memory, so every piece has its maker’s mark and stories imbued in it, which makes it unique and beautiful. From the perspective of a maker, it’s a grounding medium to work in, especially when everyone’s working in such a digital world, it’s a great respite. There’s just something about hands to clay.

How many makers are taking part this year?
We’re excited to have more makers at our event this year, as we’ve moved to a venue four times the size of our 2023 space! We’ll have 127 stalls, some with multiple artists presenting on group stands, as well as a curated exhibition area with 17 participating artists, so the final count of ceramicists in the building is yet to be determined.

We aim to highlight the breadth of creativity within the clay community, spotlighting emerging artists who may not yet be selling online, alongside established practitioners with decades of experience. We bring together a wide range of styles for people to discover pieces from artists they might not otherwise find.

What are you excited about this year?
We’re welcoming so many new makers this year, and it’s always exciting to see what everyone brings. Lots of makers are working on exclusive ranges just for the market too, so it’s exciting to celebrate their creativity and provide a platform for more people to collect ceramics.

Organising a big event is stressful, what do you enjoy most about it?
It is a LOT of work! We love fostering community, as our number one value, and that is definitely the best thing to come out of it all — the amount of ceramic artists we get to connect with and uplift through our events. Seeing people invest in their work and get excited about ceramics in the same way we do is also really rewarding.

How have you responded to the Sydney Craft Week Festival theme RESPONSE?
The act of making with clay is all about adaptability, research, trial and error, and exploring both new and old ways of working—it is a craft that constantly sees its maker going through a question and response cycle. We love that our event is also a response to the incredible ceramic talent that’s emerging out of NSW and ACT.