Open Ceramics Awards 2021

Open Ceramics Awards 2021 – Opening 26th November

The Annual Open Ceramics Awards are hosted by the Northland Craft Trust and held at The Yvonne Rust Gallery. This is a National Level Competition with two categories, "Best Open Masters" and "Best Open Emerging". All styles of work are predominantly made from ceramic materials.

This year’s Judge is well-known Auckland-based sculptress Carla Ruka, who draws on her ancestral heritage (Maori and European) to create large, detailed sculptures using her personally developed hand-building techniques. In the case of Auckland still being in lockdown and Carla unable to travel, the judging will happen online via video with curator Hannah Mitchell.

The event and exhibition will open on Friday 26th November 2021 at 5:00pm, where the winners will be announced. This event will take place outside, with restricted numbers in the Gallery, due to Covid19 restrictions. The opening and announcements will also be live online – register here.

The exhibition can be viewed from the Friday opening to Saturday 18th December, during normal opening hours – Monday-Saturday 9.30am-4.30pm (closed Sundays).

Most works are available for acquisition in time to be very special Christmas gifts for home, office, friends and family – with wrapping available for local pickup. Works purchased can be collected from Monday 22nd December, or couriered.

Online Options

This event will still happen if Northland shifts to Level 3, taking the exhibition online. Look on the Quarry Arts Centre website on Friday 26th November for additional links to the online catalogue (all entries remain secret until after judging). Purchases can be made by calling the Quarry Arts Centre on 09 438 1215 between 9.30am-4.30pm.