Week 5 Readings

1. A toolkit: Read contemporary ceramics texts

What you will learn this week

By the end of Week 5, you will be able to:

• identify the main claim in an exhibition text or artist statement

• separate claim from evidence

• rewrite complex writing into a clear 80–120 word summary

The 3-step reading method

Step 1: CLAIM
What is the text trying to say is important? (one sentence)

Step 2: EVIDENCE
What proof does the text offer? (materials, process, scale, imagery, context, artist intent)

Step 3: CONTEXT
Where/when/for whom? (place, audience, cultural references, current issues)

1.1. 2-minute Practice: Spot the CLAIM

Find any short exhibition introduction or artist statement online (or reuse a course page excerpt). In 2 minutes, write:

• CLAIM (one sentence):

• Two evidence words you expect to see: (e.g., clay, glaze, kiln, scale, installation, archive, community)

2. Exhibition page reading: what counts as evidence?

What exhibition texts usually contain

Most public exhibition pages include:

• a “big idea” paragraph (often abstract)

• a short description of materials/process

• artist names, dates, themes, sometimes quotes

• images with captions

Evidence checklist 

When you feel lost, search for evidence anchors:

• material (porcelain, stoneware, slip, glaze)

• process (wheel-thrown, coil-built, casting, firing type if given)

• scale (handheld vessel vs room-scale installation)

• function (tableware, sculpture, architectural ceramic, performance object)

• context (place, community, heritage, technology)

Neutral language guide

Use clear, non-exoticising language:

• Prefer: “symbolic”, “ritual”, “domestic”, “industrial”, “functional”

• Avoid: “mysterious”, “ancient secrets”, “magical East”

2.1. 2-minute Practice: Evidence anchors

From any exhibition text, write 4 bullets:

• one material term

• one process term

• one scale term

• one context term

3. Rewrite skill: an 80–120 word summary

Why rewriting is a powerful learning skill

Rewriting helps you:

• understand content deeply (you must decide what matters)

• avoid plagiarism (you use your own words)

• produce portfolio-ready writing that’s readable worldwide

The 80–120 word summary template

Write 4 sentences:

1. What it is: exhibition/object/artist project + setting (one sentence)

2. What it does: key actions/materials/process (one sentence)

3. What it suggests: cautious meaning (one sentence)

4. What’s next: one question or why it matters (one sentence)

Example summary (100 words)

“This exhibition introduces contemporary ceramic works that rethink the vessel as both a functional object and a storytelling device. The artists use porcelain and stoneware through handbuilding, glazing, and controlled firing to create surfaces that reference everyday use and personal history. These material choices may suggest that ceramics can hold memory and identity, though meanings vary by context and audience. A useful next question is how form and surface decisions change when ceramics move from the home into gallery-scale installation.”

4. Video Appreciation 1: The Thousand Years Old Kiln Fire in Jingdezhen 3

In the history of Jingdezhen, ceramic artists have a completely different fate. Wang Longfu was influenced by his family to make porcelain and became famous. After the founding of China, Wang Longfu was assigned to work in Jingdezhen Art Porcelain Field. In the mid-1950s, the government launched the firewood-to-coal project, which greatly increased air pollution. When the Cultural Revolution broke out in 1968, Wang Longfu was regarded as reactionary and fell into poverty and deep shame. Sun Lixin, a young ceramic artist, has the parents of both state-owned porcelain workers, and his dream is to become the best worker. However, when Sun Lixin entered the work, the state-owned porcelain in Jingdezhen had gone downhill. In 1993, Sun Lixin triggered inspiration related to porcelain in his work. After that, the Sun family successfully made the beautiful Sun Gongyao porcelain. There are also many craftsmen like them in Jingdezhen who use their hands to create history, create beauty, and create a new life.

5. Video Appreciation 2: The Thousand Years Old Kiln Fire in Jingdezhen 4

Jingdezhen is the most outstanding representative of Chinese ceramics, and the porcelain created here once influenced the lives of all humanity, earning China respect in the world. Here, people from different countries communicate and exchange ideas around ceramics. In 1995, Li Jianshen established a ceramic art exchange center in Sanbao Village, Jingdezhen, hoping that ceramic artists from all over the world would have the opportunity to experience China, experience ceramic culture, and engage in creative exchanges. Karakachi, 67, from the United States, loves Chinese traditional culture and became good friends with Professor Shi Yuren's daughter-in-law accidentally, and held a ceramic art exhibition called "Daoqi".

6. Acknowledgements

This course includes third-party materials (images and videos). Every effort has been made to ensure that these materials are used with appropriate permission and that they are acknowledged correctly. If you believe any content has been used without appropriate permission, please contact the course team so we can review and, if needed, remove or replace it.

Videos used in Week 5

1. Title: The Thousand Years Old Kiln Fire in Jingdezhen 3
2. Title: The Thousand Years Old Kiln Fire in Jingdezhen 4

• Creator/uploader: VideoChinaTV
• Source: YouTube
• Licence/Permission: Embedded/linked from the original hosting platform (YouTube).