Founded in 1868 by a group of craftsworkers, Ateliers d’Art de France is the French federation for craft professionals. Representing a wide range of know-how and a diversity of materials: ceramics, glass, metal, textiles, fabric and wood, the Ateliers d’Art currently includes more than 1,300 artists, craftsworkers and craft workshops throughout France. Its purpose is to support professionals by offering advice and training and to promote the craft professions through events, exhibitions and fairs in France and abroad, as well as through its boutiques and gallery, which is located across from the Picasso Museum in Paris. The Gallery Collection is a showcase for unique contemporary works and it regularly participates in well known fairs dedicated to the applied arts and design, such as SOFA in Chicago and New York.
Image and films offer a perspective that the eye sometimes cannot glimpse – panning around a piece of work, superimposing the inside and the outside, caressing the surface of the clay like a paintbrush, or making the sparkling light of glass vibrate. “Whether slow or quick, moving or still, the camera captures the multiple facets of a glance and the anxieties of the creative mouth and lips of so many artists and craftsworkers that we dare not glimpse alone. Poetically modest, sometimes audacious and violent, animated images can sometimes help us to grasp the unfathomable dimensions of creation”, wrote Loul Combres, Artistic Director, in the editorial for the Festival's 10th anniversary. Attended by 350 festival-goers in 1998, the Festival has attracted more and more visitors every year since. More than 1,300 spectators flocked to the 2008 edition. The Festival’s international dimension has also gained a solid footing over time, as over 12% of the festival-goers came from abroad for the last edition.
In line with its cultural policy, Ateliers d’Art de France organises the International Film Festival on Clay and Glass every two years in Montpellier, France. Created in 1998 to showcase the firebased arts, promote international cultural exchanges and develop the creation and dissemination of films, the Festival was originally dedicated entirely to clay. Glass was added to the programme in 2006.
The films screened are the fruit of a fascinating quest among audiovisual and cultural entities both in France and abroad. A viewing committee comprised of professionals from the audiovisual, art and craft worlds meets before the Festival to select the films that will be screened according to their cinematographic quality and content. The committee views nearly 140 films, of which some 30 films are finally selected for the “com-
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The 2008 International Film
Marvin Lipofsky:
Pottery and Dragon Kiln
Hand Made
Festival on Clay and Glass
A Journey in Glass
photo: Tao Yao
photo: Dreamlab Films
in Montpellier, France
photo: Paul McKenna
petition” and “out-of-competition” sections. A jury comprised of both French and foreign audiovisual experts and professionals from the arts and crafts sectors awards prizes to the competing films for their cinematographic quality and rendering of the subject. Since 1998, the Festival has been chaired by such outstanding members as Joan Gardy Artigas (ceramist and painter, Spain), Miquel Barcelo (painter and sculptor, Spain), Roger Capron (ceramist, France), Bernard Dejonghe (ceramist and glass-maker, France) and Ousmane Sow (sculptor, Senegal). Film directors’ prizes are a monetary awards to encourage film-making on clay and glass: First Award - Ateliers d’Art de France Exceptional work Heritage Award Ceramic or glass traditions through the ages and cultures Contemporary Award Contemporary ceramic or glass creation Clay Award-UNESCO Use of clay as a means of cultural exchange Glass Award Glass, source of creation Festival-goers’ Award Winner selected by vote
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photo: Damien Keller
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