Until August 25 the Mark Rothko Art Center in Latvia's second-largest city, Daugavpils, plays host to 16 ceramicists, potters and kiln-masters from ten different countries at the second International Ceramic Art Symposium.
All will collaborate in a joint "laboratory" to exchange skills, particularly in the mysterious, almost magical realm of firing techniques when the ceramics are baked in an oven.
"This year our aim is to create a kind of laboratory, where artists experiment and share their experience with each other in different ceramic firing technologies," the program of the event states.
The symposium officially opens on August 12 with an exhibition in which participants show their "calling cards" - the individual techniques and styles that they have mastered.
"I am very happy and grateful that such a symposium is taking place in Daugavpils," local ceramicist Una Gura told reporter Dace Dambe.
"To see high quality guests visiting from as far away as Pakistan and from countries closer to home, to be able to look over their shoulders and see what they do and how they do it is great. Maybe I can't be exactly the same as them but I can learn from their experience," Gura said.
The 16 artists taking part come from Belarus, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Romania, Turkey, Georgia and Pakistan as well as Latvia.
"Together the symposium participants will test a variety of ceramic firing techniques - both traditional and less traditional ones," said organizer Valentins Petjko.
The artworks produced during the symposium will themselves be the basis for an exhibition to be opened on August 23.
Full details of the symposium and linked events can be found by clicking HERE.
