Bussiere-Badil ceramic market
A mammoth by Ule Ewelt, who works with white gold (clayey earth) from the Westerwald in Germany, but also bronze.
Ule Ewelt is an artist connected to nature and the beginnings of humanity. The German ceramist, originally from the Frankfurt region, is one of the two guests of honor at the 47th edition of the Bussière-Badil Ceramic Market, in Dordogne, scheduled from Thursday May 9 to Sunday May 12 (1).
First time
“It’s my first time in Dordogne,” rejoices the artist, invited to create a sculpture in public during the four days of the event. She chose to fashion a mammoth and perhaps a bison with very chamotte earth from the Westerwald in Germany, real white gold. An invitation to travel, around the fire and techniques “which date from the Stone Age”. Where the play of oxidations gives the work its colors.
“It was my interest in animal representation that brought me to prehistory, not the other way around. I love the cave works, they found the soul of the animal,” says, in French, Ule Ewelt, in great demand in France since a first exhibition at the Printemps des potiers, in Bandol (83). “I don’t know why I exhibit so much in France. Perhaps because everyone here knows the caves, which is not the case in Germany, where everything has to be explained. »
Before meeting the public, Ule Ewelt will visit Lascaux 4, and perhaps also the caves of Pech Merle, in the Lot. Obligatory pilgrimage in the millennial history of the Dordogne. Initially a geographer for six years in a nature reserve, the ceramic artist, who moved to sculpture in 2011, finds as much joy, she says, in observing the goats and crows in Crete as the bison, mammoths, rhinoceroses and little horses from the Magdalenian. She is also increasingly interested in carnivores, particularly bears and lions. Between the wild world and culture. Between the imagination of decorated caves and the present, fascinated, she says, by this link which endures between man and nature. Out of time.
(1) From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. all three days. FREE ENTRANCE. More information on the Bussière-Badil Ceramic Market website, bussiereceramique.com.
44 potters to discover in the hall
For the 47th edition of the Bussière-Badil Ceramic Market, 44 potters will be discovered in the hall. What do they have in common? Working the land. The organizers ensure a fair distribution between ceramists who make tableware, decoration and those who are sculptors. “We select exhibitors for two years. This year, we received 144 applications for 15 places,” says Milena, one of the nine ceramists from the Quatre à quatre association, in charge. This shows the aura of the event, which attracts around 10,000 visitors each year. For the second time, she will present an exhibition in the village’s Romanesque church. After Patrick Rollet, one of the founding fathers of the Bussière-Badil market, the organizers chose to give carte blanche to Bénédicte Vallet, the other guest of honor. The designer will mix textiles and porcelain “at the edge of plants, animals and minerals”.
