In summer 2015, a group of Dickinson students, led by Dickinson Professor of Art Barbara Diduk and Professor Li Chao at the Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute, visited the old pottery town of Jingdezhen in China’s Jiangxi Province. Not only did they speak with local factory workers, officials, business people, and artists about sustainability issues in the pottery industry, but also met with Ai Weiwei, China’s most famous contemporary artist.

Read more about the visit here.

Ai Weiwei and some of the Dickinson group:  Li Chao, Barbara Diduk, Joelle Cicak, Ai Weiwei, Nick Toole and Matt Brinkerhoff. Photo courtesy of Nick Toole.

Factory worker applying blue designs to white bowls before firing.  Courtesy of Yuan Lin.

Pots ready for coloring and firing.  Courtesy of Joelle Cicak.