BEAUTIFUL. CERAMICS. USEFUL. KUTY CERAMICS
ASTRA Museum, an institution whose actions are made possible by the funding of Sibiu County Council, is organising the 11th edition of the Fair Beautiful. Ceramic. Useful. from 28-30 July 2023. The event will take place in the Open-Air museum in Dumbrava Sibiu, with the theme Ceramics of Kuty. During three days, 45 potters from Romania, Hungary and the Republic of Moldova will compete in the potter's wheel and will cook traditional recipes on an open hearth in clay pots created by them.
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"The event is a different kind of potters' fair that develops an innovative concept of a museum (fair, conference, pottery and cooking workshops) under the sign of Kuty ceramics. The ASTRA Museum challenges potters to leave the comfort zone of the market's demanded stall and guides them to research the collections to make pottery on the model of today's inactive centres. The overall objective proposed is to increase the appreciation and (re)use of traditional ceramic vessels. In this edition the potters will work on the wheel and decorate, in front of the jury, a Kuty pot from the ASTRA Museum collection. They must also present to the jury two pieces (plate, mug, pot or jug, decorative or utilitarian) made in their workshop and cook in their own pots on an open hearth or in the oven the recipes of the area they come from. Throughout the fair the exhibition and commercial side will be complemented by a high degree of cultural animation, practical pottery and cooking demonstrations, experimental workshops in modelling and pressing clay and ceramic decoration. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century the pieces from the Ivano-Frankivsk (today Ukraine) ceramic centres were widely spread in the Maramureș and Bucovina areas - ceramics from Valea Izei, Baia Sprie, Botoșani, Rădăuți. Specific to Kuty ceramics are the finely executed plates, dishes and bowls made in the sgrafito technique, with anthropomorphic and zoomorphic motifs (genre scenes), as well as the vases on a greenish-white background, with stylised designs, incised and coloured with yellow, green and brown. This type of pottery has Byzantine influences from the 13th century and is characteristic of the Paleolog dynasty. As the literature contains relatively little information about these centres and types of pottery, we rely on the documentation of museum collections to identify and develop them. Kuty pottery was produced in the Rădăuți centre by the Colibaba family until the death of Florin. Nowadays Kuty pottery is only made in Cătămărăști-Deal, Botoșani in the Iacinschi family workshop. The Fair Beautiful. Ceramics. Useful is a meeting place for entrepreneurs, representatives of guesthouses and restaurants in Sibiu, specialists and potters, offering the opportunity for a broad, sustainable dialogue about the craft of pottery, about techniques and models of (re)enhancement of old ceramics. Through modern clay processing techniques, the use of environmentally friendly glazes and the firing of ceramics in electric kilns, the potter returns to a traditional pottery, but adapted to contemporary requirements, creating and developing relationships with the public and the whole community of which it is part. The meeting and association of entrepreneurs and craftsmen has led in recent years to successful businesses and the widespread promotion of products made by craftsmen, some of which have been integrated into the Horeca industry. ", said PhD. Karla Roșca, head of the ASTRA Museum Exhibition Department.
On Saturday, July 29, 2023, between 5.00-7.00 pm, at the Country Fair, our guests Virgil and Adriana Scripcariu, Museum-Workshop School of Piscu, PhD. Szőcsné Gazda Enikö, National Szekler Museum in Sfântu Gheorghe, PhD student Ciprian Anghel Ștefan, Mirela Iancu, PhD Mirela Crețu and PhD Karla Roșca, ASTRA Museum Sibiu will discuss museums providing solutions for the green transition, models of ceramic revitalization and Kuty ceramics.
The cooking demonstrations will take place at the Country Fair in the Open Air Museum from 28-30 July 2023, starting at 10am. In Sibiu, the cooks will cook Romanian, Hungarian and Moldovan recipes in clay pots on an open hearth, such as: Bean stew with meat and mushrooms, Noodles with cheese, cheese and bacon a la Norbert!, Green bean stew, Stew with pork and potatoes, Moldovan stew, Stew with pig's ears, Szekler goulash with smoked meat and mushrooms, Cabbage stew, etc.
On Saturday 29 July 2023, starting at 2 pm, the public can taste,goulash, and on Sunday 30 July 2023, the potter's stew, based on availability
Sponsors: S.C. Interceram Sighisoara, RO CADPLAN SRL
