Our search for characteristic local clay bodies took us to the French village Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye, where potters have been making ceramics from locally sourced clay since the Middle Ages. Due to the clay’s low iron level, the new stoneware displays a beautiful creamy-caramel colour.
The tenth edition in the ZandGlas series was made to commemorate Atelier NL's first retrospective exhibition at the Museum van Bommel van Dam in Venlo. Made in collaboration with heritage foundation, Het, Limburgs Landschap, we produced this edition using sand from Joamerdal (Valley of Sorrow).
Museum van Bommel van Dam in Venlo presents Atelier NL’s first retrospective exhibition Earth Alchemy — 15 Years of Digging.
The exhibition at GEO—DESIGN offers new insights and adds new layers to the narrative of this ongoing project for those who wish to carefully contemplate these collections. To See a World in a Grain of Sand tells stories of time, place, and our profound connection to the world we live in. From a hot and dry desert to a cold and snowy mountain; a skyscraper in a bustling city to an archaeological ruin; an invisible political border to a vast and open landscape; an excavated gold mine to the bottom of an ancient seabed; a place of civil unrest to a serene holiday island. The analysis of sands collected by people from all across the earth reveals hidden narratives in the varied colours and textures of glass fused from 'wild' sands. When these geographical diversities become visible, it becomes clear that sand carries not only ecological significance, but powerful social and political histories.
Come by the Atelier NL church and enter into the exhibition through a forest of saplings, part of a community response to replant some of the trees that were lost in the storm last June. Among the trees, you can listen to stories about the challenges and complex decisions involved in forest management.
The eighth ZandGlas edition has been made in collaboration with Rijksmuseum Van Oudheden as part of the exhibition on glass which showcases some of the finest glass pieces from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Netherlands, and elsewhere.
"This studio shows a consistent sensitivity throughout their work, concentrating on local materials and responsible production practices whilst also maintaining a very high level of aesthetics throughout all their projects. They tackle ideas such as sense of place and geographic specificity successfully, making the conversation about sustainable practices a richer one. Using impressively rigorous and interesting design thinking, they create beautiful objects with good craftsmanship."
Dezeen Awards Master Jury
"A powerful, thoughtfully produced and beautifully executed project that celebrates imperfection, natural materials and local idiosyncrasies, whilst simultaneously salvaging quickly disappearing knowledge."
Dezeen Award Master Jury
Designers Lonny van Ryswyck and Nadine Sterk are pleased to announce the acquisition of their most pivotal work by Stedelijk Museum 's-Hertogenbosch and The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics.
