British Ceramics Biennial

British Ceramics Biennial A biennial showcase of contemporary ceramics in Stoke-on-Trent, running alongside year-round programming with artist residencies, commissions and learning.

Next biennial: 2027 British Ceramics Biennial is the UK’s premiere contemporary ceramics festival that takes place in Stoke-on-Trent. BCB presents art-works from the UK’s leading ceramicists alongside international artists, in exhibitions and special events held across the city. BCB is underpinned by an exciting year-round programme of artists’ commissions, education and community engagement projects.

06/09/2026

🚨 Deadline for applications coming soon 🚨

The BCB Mentorship programme welcomes applications from early-career creatives working in clay who feel they face barriers in accessing a professional network in contemporary ceramics. Selected artists will be paired with a mentor who can support their creative journey.

Meet Edie Evans, one of our mentees from the previous cohort, who is an artist exploring the intersection of ecology, neurodiversity, and materiality through clay.

The programme will support up to seven early-career artists from October 2026 to February 2027. As a mentee, you’ll receive:
⭐ one-to-one online mentoring sessions with an experienced artist, curator or arts professional
⭐ an opportunity for a bespoke artist film
⭐ access to a new network of peers
⭐ ongoing support from the BCB team.

Deadline for applications: 12 noon, 15 September 2026

Full details on how to apply, eligibility and access support 👉 https://ow.ly/32ob50ZCkjj


🎥 Copperbeach

04/09/2026

Another artist talk is live 🚨

Tune in to the BCB Player and watch Kyra Cane's artist talk from the 2025 Biennial.

Kyra recounts how her love of nature and the beautiful landscapes around her inspire her surface decoration, and how applying for Award ignited a passion to make an environmental statement with her work.

Watch now 👉 https://ow.ly/w7n350ZBmBS

More artist talks coming soon 👀

Thank you to Copperbeach for their support with filming and editing our artist talks.

Kyra Cane Ceramics

Come along to Liverpool with Our Time, Our Place, Our Heritage!Monica Hall, the Youth Enquiry Group and our heritage her...
03/09/2026

Come along to Liverpool with Our Time, Our Place, Our Heritage!

Monica Hall, the Youth Enquiry Group and our heritage heroes visited St George's Hall Liverpool to look at the beautiful Minton tiles in preparation to design some of their own.

Usually protected beneath a wooden covering to preserve its intricate craftsmanship, the Minton floor is one of the finest examples of Victorian design in the world.

Comprising 30,000 hand crafted tiles, the mosaic has captivated hundreds of thousands of people over the decades, with its rich colours, classical motifs and remarkable level of preservation.

Minton was founded in 1793 by Thomas Minton in Stoke-on-Trent. The company became famous for making pottery and decorative tiles, building a strong reputation both in Britain and around the world. Minton exported its products internationally and played an important role in promoting Stoke-on-Trent’s reputation as a centre for ceramics.

Our Time, Our Place, Our Heritage is led by Stoke Creates in partnership with British Ceramics Biennial funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

03/09/2026

Explore the incredible Minton Archive at Stoke-on-Trent City Achives, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery this September!
We are pleased to announce an opportunity for local secondary school children to experience some of the beautiful materials which form the Minton collection in this special project, designed and delivered by British Ceramics Biennial and The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery (PMAG) with Stoke-on-Trent City Archives.
Aimed at Year 8 to Year 10 students, this project involves a workshop at PMAG where students will learn about the Minton collection and gain access to the Stoke-on-Trent City Archives with an archivist who will show them examples from the wonderful primary resources housed here.
Students will learn about the work of an archivist and what it takes to preserve a valuable collection. They will find out about ways of researching and documenting resources and use their research to design their own Minton-inspired piece. There will be a follow-up session in school where students can create their own clay work in response to their research, and a celebration afternoon where students will receive their fired work, meet with other participants and reflect on their experience.

Workshop dates: Tuesdays on 15 and 22 September at 10:15am and 12:45pm
Session Duration: 1hr 45mins
Led by: BCB Associate artists and museum staff, who will liaise with schools on dates for the follow-up session

How to get involved
This programme is part of Museums & Schools: Clay Museum, a collaboration between BCB and PMAG, and is funded by Arts Council England. We are operating the booking system on a first-come, first-served basis. If your school would like to book a session, please email [email protected]

Images of Minton tile designs courtesy Stoke-on-Trent City Archives

is 'Textured Terracotta' by Amalia Phillips, who was part of the graduating cohort of the MA Ceramics course at the Un...
02/09/2026

is 'Textured Terracotta' by Amalia Phillips, who was part of the graduating cohort of the MA Ceramics course at the University of Staffordshire in 2025.

This collection of wheel-thrown terracotta vases explores the relationship between structured form and expressive surface. The natural warmth of terracotta, with contrasting colours drawn from the Moravian landscape of Amalia’s Czech heritage, complements the dynamic surface textures inspired by plaited forms.

These tactile marks introduce asymmetry and rhythm, where fingerprints and the presence of touch create a dialogue between control and spontaneity.

📷 Jenny Harper

Take a look back at the with work by Orly Edlavitch, one of the artists selected for Fresh 2015.Coming from a backgrou...
29/08/2026

Take a look back at the with work by Orly Edlavitch, one of the artists selected for Fresh 2015.

Coming from a background of Ceramic Art & Design, her work is a synthesis of design and fine art, using traditional techniques to express contemporary ideas.

She works mainly in slip-casting, followed by manually processing each piece in an elaborate process including mould-making, slip-casting, decorating and gilding.


📷 Joel Fildes

Three free ways to get creative, meet the team and get involved in our latest projects starting this Bank Holiday Weeken...
27/08/2026

Three free ways to get creative, meet the team and get involved in our latest projects starting this Bank Holiday Weekend 🌟

Get hands-on with clay at one of our workshops exploring traditional ceramic techniques, or share your connection to The Potteries with one of our project staff at a drop-in session.

BCB Workshop at The Big Feast by Appetite | Bethesda Gardens
Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent ST1 3DX
12pm-5pm, Friday 28 August
11am-5pm, Saturday 29 August

Heritage Open Days Drop-in Session | St Mark’s Church
Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent ST1 4LT
4pm-7pm, Wednesday 16 September

Heritage Open Days Drop-in Session | Middleport Pottery
Port Street, Stoke-on-Trent ST6 3PE
11am-3pm, Thursday 17 September

Open Studios - Hands-on clay workshop | BCB Studio
Spode Works, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 1BU
11am-4pm, Saturday 19 September (part of Heritage Open Days)
11am-4pm, Saturday 17 October

Our Time, Our Place, Our Heritage is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.


📷
1: Our Time, Our Place, Our Heritage workshop. Credit Copperbeach
2: Stoke-on-Trent Pride 2026. Credit Alice Thatcher
3: Open Source workshop. Credit Natalie Willatt

It's time for ✨'Parasoma' by Fan Ji, one of the artists selected for Fresh 2025.Fan’s work weaves together environment...
26/08/2026

It's time for ✨
'Parasoma' by Fan Ji, one of the artists selected for Fresh 2025.

Fan’s work weaves together environmental narratives, material metaphors and speculative futures. Her work often takes the form of sculptural ceramic installations that explore the sentimental and symbolic representations of nature.

Fan is influenced by Object-Oriented Ontology (the study of the nature of being). She treats all materials—whether organic or industrial—as ontologically equal. She combines philosophy with creative processes through material fusion and layering, where clay, electronic waste, and found objects co-exist as speculative ‘future relics’.


📷 Jenny Harper

25/08/2026

After the final scene, the director yells "that's a wrap", the actors go home and... what happens to the set?

Freya Bruce, one of the co-founders of ReCollective, has some answers for us, and they may surprise you.

If you're curious to find out more, head to the BCB Player 👉 https://ow.ly/LYvv50ZF37B

From 2024-2026, BCB commissioned a research project exploring the creative reuse of construction spoil clay, carried out by BCB Researcher Claire Baily. The conference brought together leading voices in the circular economies of clay spoil for the first time.

How do you make an artwork taller than you?This was the question our Award 2025 artist, Susan Halls, had to answer as sh...
23/08/2026

How do you make an artwork taller than you?

This was the question our Award 2025 artist, Susan Halls, had to answer as she created her work for the Biennial.

Susan has long been interested in animal imagery and sculpting her own creatures. For Award, she decided to take a different direction and scale up. She used her 'foldy things', a generic animalistic shape, as building blocks stacked on top of each other. Layer upon layer, the animals' heads and legs became columns and arches in these architectural sculptures.

And to answer the question at the beginning: Very slowly and carefully (and in multiple parts!).


All images courtesy of the artist

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