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Hewitt is a gifted and polished speaker. His talk was rich with detail,
references to contemporary theoretical debates and humour. Hewitt
states he 1s a potter and proud of it, not that making functional wares
requires an apology. Although he acknowledges that the lack of respect
from the “poterat” unfairly devalues functional work 1n economic
terms, he enjoys making work that inserts itself into people’s private
lives. In Great Britain and elsewhere, committed gallery owners have
done much to raise the status—and thus the economic and symbolic
value—of functional pots, although much remains to be done. He
is particularly interested in and supportive of potters who choose to
work in distinctly regional styles. Rather than seeing regionalism as a
disadvantage, he sees dedication to regional style as a way to preserve
the myth, memory and cultural landscape of a people and a way of life.
Quoting Yeats, who memorably remarked, “You can refute Hegel but
not the Saint or the Song of Sixpence,” Hewitt defended the production
of handmade, functional pottery in terms of its value as performance—
“pots in action.” In his view, functional pottery addresses ceramics
history in its breadth and complexity. And Hewitt should know: he ts
descended from a great-great grandfather who started a company to
make kiln furniture in Stoke-on-Trent; he grew up among the potteries
and his father and grandfather were directors of Spode China.

The most entertaining part of his lecture consisted of his proposal
for a new nomenclature and taxonomy for neo-functional pottery. Re-
labelling functional pottery challenges--and demolishes--old stereotypes
(dull, brown, boring) in order to “reposition” tt in the market place.
Hewitt proffers such terms as “Le-Fun” (with a French accent—Leach
functional); “Ca-Bau-Fun” (California Bauhaus—as in Marguerite
Wildenhain); “Funky-Fun” (loosely thrown); “Alt-Fun” (thrown and
altered); “Wo-Fun” (wood-fired); or even “No-Fun” (Norwegian
functional.) One can only hope Hewitt’s playful and enthusiastic
support of functional pottery will raise the status and acceptance of
this important art.

An Aura of Excitement and Industry

An aura of excitement and industry prevailed and filled the day, as
participants hurried from demonstration to demonstration, happily
exchanging ideas and comparing notes at tea breaks. The presenters were
wonderfully generous with their tme, knowledge and experience. I am
delighted to find that the ceramics community tn British Columbia 1s as
diverse and supportive of a wide range of work as in Calgary. I can only
hope that symposiums like this will gtve Canadians more opportunities
to network with and learn from each other. The Symposium can only
take place given the hard work and support of its organizers, sponsors
and participants; in my opinion, everyone has reason be proud.

Amy Gogarty

7 ——— rrr EEE 0) (2)

MORE SYMPOSIUM
REVIEW TO FOLLOW
IN THE JUNE ISSUE

Amy Gogarty

Amy Gogarty ts an artist and a writer who has
recently relocated to Vancouver after teaching
at the Alberta College of Art & Design in
Calgary for sixteen years. She 1s a co-editor of
Utopie Impulses: Contemporary Ceramics Practice
and Craft Perception and Practice vol. 3, both of
which will be published by Ronsdale Press
this fall.

y

POTTERS

GUILD
«BRITISH

Mark Henitt