- Title
- Anton and Vale van der Merwe: reinterpreting Afro-Oriental studio ceramics traditions in South Africa
- Creator
- Steele, John
- Description
- Growing awareness of ancient Chinese Song and Yuan ceramics, amongst other Oriental traditions, by people with western connections such as Bernard Leach and Michael Cardew, in conjunction with influences from Japanese associates such as Soyetsu Yanagi, Kenkichi Tomimoto, and Shoji Hamada, (De Waal 1997, Harrod 2012, Kikuchi 1977, Leach 1976) has had many consequences. It spread a consciousness idealizing self-sufficient pottery studios where potters were in touch with all aspects of creating utilityware, largely from local materials for local use. Out of this emerged an Anglo-Oriental studio ceramic philosophy of form and practice, associated mainly with hand-made high temperature reduction fired ceramics. These ideas spread to South Africa in the late 1950s, and by the early 1960s local studios were being established along these lines. This studio ceramics movement grew exponentially in South Africa, initiating a phase of Afro-Oriental ceramics that remains a powerful way of life and visual arts influence. This paper seeks to explore aspects of Afro- Oriental studio ceramics in South Africa, with particular reference to the Leach/Hamada/Cardew to Rabinowitz, and Van der Merwe lineage.
- Date
- 2015
- Type
- text, Article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/11260/968
- Identifier
- vital:30077
- Format
- 10 pages, pdf
- Language
- English
- Relation
- South African Journal of Art History, Steele, J., (2015). Anton and Vale van der Merwe: reinterpreting Afro-Oriental studio ceramics traditions in South Africa. South African Journal of Art History, 30(2), pp.119-128, South African Journal of Art History 30 vol. 2 no. 129 138 2015 0258-3542
- Rights
- Art Historical Work Group of South Africa
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