Carriageworks played host to this year’s Sydney Ceramics Market at the weekend, a major event of Sydney Craft Week, seeing over 5,000 people through the doors. The market featured over 90 ceramic artists across Sydney, the Illawarra, Central Coast and Blue Mountains, live demonstrations and artist talks hosted in conjunction with the Australian Design Centre.
Only in its second year, the Sydney Ceramics Market, lead by two-woman team Melody Brunton and Samee Lapham, had already doubled the size of it’s previous venue and, as a result of this year’s success, are now talking of extending next year’s market across multiple days.
“What an incredible energy there was in that space, from when the doors opened right up until closing, there was so much buzz around the humble craft that we’ve fallen in love with,” Ms Brunton said.
“To be able to hold space for the ceramics community is like having a firing that exceeds your expectations.”
Many keen shoppers waited up to 45 minutes to enter the market, taking full advantage of the once a year event, with Wollongong artists featuring heavily in the line-up.
Wollongong-based ceramicist Naomi Eburn highlighted the importance of such events.
“Ceramics in particular is work that requires hands on engagement to showcase its quality. Gathering such a broad variety of artists also allows the opportunity for each individual style to be celebrated without feeling we are competing with each other,” she said.
“The support and encouragement from all the artists is touching and uplifting to know we are all in it together. The event was as successful as I had hoped it to be.”
Penny Dillon (Kusu Ceramics) of Stanwell Park agreed the day was a successful end to an exhaustive lead-up.
“Sydney Ceramics Market is a great opportunity for the public to see the diversity of ceramics all in the one place and also connect face to face with the makers they may have been following on social media,” she said.
“I’ve always found the ceramics community to be very supportive but I felt there was a feeling of solidarity between the makers at the Sydney Ceramics Market, we all knew how damn hard we’d worked to get there.”
Sydney Craft Week events continue across the city until October 15.