Submissions for Award 2025 are now closed.
Thank you to everyone who applied and to those who helped us spread the word.
Award is the British Ceramics Biennial’s headline exhibition. Award celebrates the vitality of contemporary ceramics practice in the UK with ten artists selected from an open submission process.
What’s next?
A panel of experts who are integral to the growth and innovation of contemporary ceramics practice will select ten artists to exhibit in BCB 2025. Selected artists will receive £1,000 towards the presentation of their work as a central component of the Biennial. During the Biennial, one winner is selected, announced, and awarded a £10,000 cash prize.
Award 2025 Selection Panel
Award exhibitors are selected by a panel of leading professionals who are advocates for contemporary art and making, and who bring a variety of perspectives to the decision-making process. The Award 2025 selection panel will be announced in due course on the BCB website.
Key dates for Award 2025
26 April 2024 Applications open
9 September 2024 Deadline for submissions (12noon GMT)
Oct/Nov 2024 Award selection panel meet and candidates informed
Nov/Dec 2024 Studio visits for selected artists
Aug/Sept 2025 Delivery of work to exhibition venue and installation
September 2025 Biennial launch – Award exhibition opens to the public
Sept/Oct 2025 Award winner is announced
November 2025 Award exhibition closes to the public and collection of work
“Award offers a space for artists to build upon their expertise to say something new. As the UK’s leading exhibition of contemporary ceramic and clay, we seek to make experimentation, risk-taking and ambition central to Award. The abundant ways of working with clay make it an extraordinary material for sharing ideas, provocation, storytelling and activism. For this headline exhibition of the British Ceramics Biennial, we welcome those with established artistic careers to explore and expand the boundaries of their practice.”
Clare Wood, Artistic Director & Chief Executive, British Ceramics Biennial & Award Panel Member
What are the ambitions of Award 2025?
- To present ambition and creative risk-taking within contemporary ceramics
- To celebrate the talent and achievements of artists
- To give a platform to artists with a compelling idea or opinion they want to express
- To be diverse and inclusive, reflecting the richness of ceramics practice
Who is Award for?
Award invites applications from UK-based individual practitioners, collaborators or collectives who use clay as their primary material. The Award exhibition seeks to have a positive impact on the practice of the exhibiting artists. We seek to support artists who want to make best use of the opportunity, who may wish to tread new ground, use the momentum of the exhibition to focus or make a step change in their practice or to present work in ways it hasn’t previously been experienced.
Award 2023
See the artists selected for Award 2023.
The winner of Award 2023 is Mella Shaw with her work, Sounding Line. Read the article here.
