The Jingdezhen @ Louisbourg
Festival

  connections/culture/ceramics

The Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site of Canada and the Fortress of Louisbourg Volunteer Association are proud to announce Jingdezhen@Louisbourg 2001. The international ceramic festival will run from July 6 to 20.

Working with the Jingdezhen Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute, the festival will bring four renowned ceramic artists from Jingdezhen, People's Republic of China to Fortress Louisbourg, where the master artisans will once again fascinate Canadian audiences with the ancient art of porcelain production.

The first Jingdezhen@Louisbourg festival introduced this time-honored art form to Canada last summer. During the festival, thousands of visitors to the historic site on Canada's east coast enjoyed the rare opportunity to witness the potters in action.

One unforgettable moment for several members of the audience was the chance to "throw" a porcelain vessel on the traditional wheel.

This year the master porcelain makers of Jingdezhen will have the opportunity to enthrall a wider Canadian audience. Before arriving at Louisbourg, the potters will demonstrate their ancient craft at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto.

The bonds between Jingdezhen porcelain and the Fortress stretch back two and a half centuries to the height of the China trade. Today, there are 69,000 excavated porcelain fragments from Jingdezhen in the Louisbourg collection.

Highlights of the festival include:

Demonstrations of the intricate steps in traditional hand-crafted porcelain production

Exhibit of archaeological artifacts from the Louisbourg collection

Show and sale of contemporary Chinese ceramics from Jingdezhen 

Exhibition of `Chinese Export Porcelain in Canada'