Collecting and archiving contemporary clay practices
June 24–26, 2026, 12pm
London W1W 7BY
United Kingdom
The three-day conference addresses how artworks in the “expanded field of clay” can be made accessible to current and future audiences. These works may be ephemeral, site-specific, participatory, or live, thereby posing significant challenges for museums.
Conference keynotes include Florence Peake (artist) and Louisa Buck (art critic and author); Alun Graves (Senior Curator, Ceramics and Glass 1900–now, V&A) and Keith Harrison (artist); Daniel F. Herrmann (Ardelan Curator of Modern and Contemporary Projects, National Gallery); Phoebe Cummings (artist); Emily Stone (specialist in public programming) and Alexandra Hodby (Head of Programmes, Yorkshire Sculpture Park); Hanna B. Hölling (Research Professor, Bern Academy of the Arts); and artists Clare Twomey and Linda Sormin.
The full programme of provocations, papers, and panel discussions raises a range of curatorial, museological and artistic perspectives on the subject, with other speakers/panellists including Natalie Baerselman le Gros, Christie Brown, William Cobbing, Lily Crowther, Rupert Faulkner, Martina Margetts, Jules Pelta Feldman, Tessa Peters, Anders Herwald Ruhwald, Nicole Seisler, and Ashley Thorpe. For updates to the programme please visit here.
The conference is being held as part of the three-year AHRC-funded research project, Future Ecologies of Clay. The research is being undertaken by the Ceramics Research Centre-UK, University of Westminster, in partnership with the V&A (Grant number UKRI748).
Conference schedule
Wednesday June 24, 12–6pm / Thursday June 25, 9:30am–5:30pm / Friday June 26, 9am–4pm
