Biennale of Contemporary Keramics

Biennale of Contemporary Keramics 2nd Biennale of Contemporary Keramics
6 June - 31 October 2026
Location: Rhodes

Big Blue Dot - Contemporary Ceramics Biennale, a non-profit organization based in Greece dedicated to promoting and supporting contemporary ceramics as an evolving art form. Mainly driven by the need to promote and highlight Greek ceramic art and ceramists at a global level, the Big Blue Dot Contemporary Ceramics Biennale aspires to be an important cultural event that will be held biannually in Gr

eece as an initiative where artists can meet and enrich their knowledge and present a new way of reading the cultural heritage of Greece through contemporary art. The Big Blue Dot Contemporary Ceramics Biennale is always wandering and decentralized. Like a traveling blue dot, it is not based in the Athenian metropolis; instead, it takes place each time on a different island, taking inspiration from each place, its archaeological past, its myths, and its history, presenting a large-scale exhibition and a parallel program of performances, projects, and workshops for both artists and the local community.

02/09/2026

Not Everyone Who Sees the Sun Perceives the Light

This work belongs to a broader series derived from the external appearance and texture of straw. Rather than using straw as a physical material, its visual and tactile qualities are translated into ceramic form through a self-developed technique. In this transformation, an ephemeral agricultural material becomes a durable ceramic presence, carrying its symbolic trace.

The work is deeply connected to Palestinian culture, where straw is associated with land, labour, and collective memory. The project also draws on motifs and visual structures found in traditional Palestinian embroidery, reinterpreting these symbols as ceramic surfaces that speak to identity and belonging.

Fatima Mohisen(.5art), Not Everyone Who Sees the Sun Perceives the Light | Salvation, 2025, clay translated from the external appearance of straw (self-developed technique), 68 x 34 x 34 cm.

The artwork is currently on view at the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes.

Curated by:
Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos
Loukia Thomopoulou
Anissa Touati

©️George Pappas
©️Ministry of Culture () / Ephorate of Antiquities of the Dodecanese ()

Here is what's dropping this month:👉 04/09 Workshop: Introduction “To the traditional Japanese Technique of Kintsugi” by...
01/09/2026

Here is what's dropping this month:
👉 04/09 Workshop: Introduction “To the traditional Japanese Technique of Kintsugi” by Nectaria Dassacli
👉 05/09 Workshop: Introduction “To the traditional Japanese Technique of Kintsugi” by Nectaria Dassacli
👉 06/09 Workshop: Introduction “To the traditional Japanese Technique of Kintsugi” by Nectaria Dassacli
👉 11/09 Curated Tour
👉 11/09 Workshop: “Ceramic Glazes - Introduction to glaze technology” by George Vavatsis
👉 21/09 Educational: “Tracing the cultural and historical heritage of Rhodes through ceramic art” for primary education teachers and undergraduate students of the department of primary education (part 1)
👉 23/09 Educational: “Tracing the cultural and historical heritage of Rhodes through ceramic art” for primary education teachers and undergraduate students of the department of primary education (part 1)
👉 30/09 Educational: “Tracing the cultural and historical heritage of Rhodes through ceramic art” for primary education teachers and undergraduate students of the department of primary education (part 1)

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Kostas Neofytou, Forms, Stoneware with oxide decoration, fired in a wood kiln, 36 x 16 x 36 cm.Honorary Award presented ...
29/08/2026

Kostas Neofytou, Forms, Stoneware with oxide decoration, fired in a wood kiln, 36 x 16 x 36 cm.

Honorary Award presented to Kostas Neofytou for his lifelong contribution to the preservation of Rhodian ceramic tradition, and for his decisive role in its transition into contemporary artistic practice.

His presence extends beyond the studio into the public realm, where his monumental works, installed in prominent locations in Rhodes and Athens, form part of the city’s everyday experience—quiet, enduring markers of artistic identity and cultural continuity.

A highly awarded artist, he has received numerous distinctions, including three First Prizes in Artistic Ceramics, the First Prize of the Municipality of Rhodes, as well as Second and Third Panhellenic Prizes. His work has been presented in eight solo exhibitions and more than sixty group exhibitions in Greece and internationally, while he has also participated in international biennials, contributing actively to the contemporary discourse on ceramic art.

The artwork is currently on view at the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes.

Curated by:
Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos
Loukia Thomopoulou Loukia Thomopoulou
Anissa Touati

©️Bill Stamatopoulos (photo 2,3,4)
©️Ministry of Culture (Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού) / Ephorate of Antiquities of the Dodecanese (Εφορεία Αρχαιοτήτων Δωδεκανήσου)

28/08/2026

Memory Maps

An installation of ceramic vessels from an ongoing series called Memory Maps—subjective maps with no beginning or end —features glazed drawings wrapping around large, coiled, hand-built pots.

The maps, without beginning or end, echo the island's form: space encircled by water, bounded yet brimming with lived experience. Together, these maps tell a story of subjective experience. These drawings depict the places and moments that anchor memory—a favourite restaurant, a best friend's apartment, a hardware store I frequented, a name-day house party, a concert on the beach, a rooster eating from a trash can, a fight involving bread and olive oil. The more personal they become, the more universal they are.

Ben Noam Wolf (), Memory Maps, 2023–2026, glazed stoneware, dimensions variable.

The artwork is currently on view at the De Milly Armoury

Curated by:
Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos
Loukia Thomopoulou
Anissa Touati

©️George Pappas
©️Ministry of Culture () / Ephorate of Antiquities of the Dodecanese ()

Asunción Molinos Gordo (), ¡Cuánto río allá arriba!, 2023, glazed ceramic, iron, 224 x 60 x 60 cm. Asunción Molinos Gord...
27/08/2026

Asunción Molinos Gordo (), ¡Cuánto río allá arriba!, 2023, glazed ceramic, iron, 224 x 60 x 60 cm.

Asunción Molinos Gordo, ¡Cuánto río allá arriba!, 2023, glazed ceramic, iron, 220 x 50 x 50 cm.

Asunción Molinos Gordo is a Spanish research-based artist living and working between Madrid and Cairo. Her practice draws on anthropology and sociology to examine peasantry, land use, and rural economies. She holds the Sharjah Biennial Prize and has exhibited internationally at major venues, including the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the V&A Museum, and the Havana Biennial. She is represented by Travesía Cuatro.

¡Cuánto río allá arriba! series pays tribute to the multiple forms and uses of water through a sculptural ensemble of ceramic elements associated with water-bearing objects, such as pitchers, jugs, canteens, basins, and rhytons. These ceramic collages combine forms from the Nasrid period, as well as from other historical periods and different regions of the Mediterranean basin. This body of work condenses the artist’s research on the equitable distribution of water and its significance as a fundamental condition for social peace, a form of knowledge deeply rooted in rural communities across the world.

Courtesy of the artist and Galeria Travesia Cuatro. ()

The artwork is currently on view at the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes.

Curated by:
Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos
Loukia Thomopoulou
Anissa Touati

©️Constantinos Caravatellis (photo 2,3)
©️Bill Stamatopoulos (photo 4,5)
©️Ministry of Culture () / Ephorate of Antiquities of the Dodecanese ()

26/08/2026

Honorary Award presented to Menandros Papadopoulos for his lifelong contribution to ceramic art, as creator and teacher, and for his foundational role in its artistic and technological development in Greece.

Menandros Papadopoulos belongs to a generation of makers who have shaped the field of contemporary ceramics in Greece, bridging inherited knowledge with the inquiries of the present.

His practice spans sculptural forms, wall-based compositions using the raku technique, as well as decorative and architectural applications, forming a consistent and evolving body of work.

Menandros Papadopoulos (), Nests of Memories, Clays, Minerals, Threads, 30 x 42 cm.

The artwork is currently on view at the De Milly Armoury

Curated by:
Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos
Loukia Thomopoulou
Anissa Touati

©️George Pappas
©️Ministry of Culture () / Ephorate of Antiquities of the Dodecanese ()

Fatima Mohisen (.5art), Not Everyone Who Sees the Sun Perceives the Light | Salvation, 2025, clay translated from the ex...
25/08/2026

Fatima Mohisen (.5art), Not Everyone Who Sees the Sun Perceives the Light | Salvation, 2025, clay translated from the external appearance of straw (self-developed technique), 68 x 34 x 34 cm.

Fatima Mohisen is a ceramic designer and sculptor whose practice blends realism with the renewal of heritage. She holds a BA in Ceramic and Glass Design from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design (2025), alongside degrees in Geography, Political Science, and Education. Mohisen won the Andy 2.0 Award for Excellence in Ceramic Design and has exhibited in group shows across Jerusalem, including at Al-Hoash and Burj Al Luqluq.

The work is deeply connected to Palestinian culture, where straw is associated with land, labor, and collective memory. The project also draws on motifs and visual structures found in traditional Palestinian embroidery, reinterpreting these symbols as ceramic surfaces that speak to identity and belonging.

The artwork is currently on view at the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes.

Curated by:
Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos
Loukia Thomopoulou
Anissa Touati

©️Bill Stamatopoulos (photo 2)
©️Ministry of Culture () / Ephorate of Antiquities of the Dodecanese ()

23/08/2026

Tirso

Tirso is a work on the evocative power of names and toponyms. Tirso is both the name of the main river of Sardinia and of the ritual staff of Dionysus. It is the river that nourishes and irrigates the lands of central Sardinia, the historical heart of ceramic production on the island.
Dionysus is the central fire of the island’s Carnival propitiatory rites, a symbol of metamorphosis, ecstasy, and regeneration. In such a cluster of names, the river becomes
both a ritual space and a ritual instrument, an axis of transformation between nature, bodies, and matter.

GianMarco Porru (), Tirso, 2026, glazed ceramic, wood, parts of real flowers, plaster, 136 x 28 x 23 cm.

The artwork is currently on view at the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes.

Curated by:
Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos
Loukia Thomopoulou
Anissa Touati

©️George Pappas
©️Ministry of Culture () / Ephorate of Antiquities of the Dodecanese ()

Atalanti Martinou (), Quatrefoil, 2026, hand-painted and glazed earthenware clay, installation of 40 pieces of various d...
22/08/2026

Atalanti Martinou (), Quatrefoil, 2026, hand-painted and glazed earthenware clay, installation of 40 pieces of various dimensions.

Atalanti Martinou is a Greek artist based in Athens. She studied History of Art and Architecture at Brown University, Providence. After a decade living and working in New York, she returned to Athens in 2013 and founded ARCH, a non-profit art space, in 2019. In 2020, she founded ARCH workshop, a creative studio that serves as the hub of her practice. Working between sculpting with clay and painting on ceramic surfaces, she creates works that merge sculptural construction and imagery.

In the installation various ceramic traditions are celebrated, differing in ceramic traditions differ in ex*****on, yet share a “floral grammar” that has endured for centuries and profoundly influenced generations of artists. For this project, the artist seeks to absorb this historical visual language, its intricate symmetries and botanical motifs, and allow it to evolve through her own idiosyncratic mannerisms.

The artwork is currently on view at the Decorative Collection of Rhodian Ceramics

Curated by:
Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos
Loukia Thomopoulou
Anissa Touati

©️Constantinos Caravatellis (photo 2,3,4)
©️Ministry of Culture () / Ephorate of Antiquities of the Dodecanese ()

21/08/2026

The Vessels of the First Light

Mirsini Rounelioti’s installation narrates the common history of the Mediterranean, a narrative founded on the unity of its peoples, despite their diversity. Twenty-three ceramic vessels,
representing the nations of the basin, are all built from the same clay, symbolizing a
single, millennia-old heritage.

These vessels hold singular pulses of light, quotes, lines of poetry, and fragments of
hope, each shining from a different shore. These verses gleam as white lines of light,
gathering the scattered voices of the sea into a collective prayer offered to the morning,
whispering promises of a new beginning.

Mirsini Roumelioti (.roumelioti), The Vessels of the First Light, 2025, stoneware dark clay and porcelain, 33 x 250 x 250 cm.

Curated by:
Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos
Loukia Thomopoulou
Anissa Touati

©️George Pappas
©️Ministry of Culture () / Ephorate of Antiquities of the Dodecanese ()

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