Boy In China
Keith and Marj take a break from chapel restoration
Keith and Marj are away from the restoration of Capel Salem while they visit China, where for the last 15 years, two factories have made all the ceramics Keith has designed for Make International, including the ever-popular Word range.
In Boy In A China Shop, Keith says of the move to production in China: “To be honest, I was very sceptical about going out there. I didn’t think we’d find somewhere that could reproduce what I made. That perception gradually altered as we toured the factories. We were getting to see the ones other Western companies would not have done. They were family-run businesses that had been handed down from generation to generation, and ceramics was like a religion to them. It was in their blood.”
The factory keep samples of everything they’ve made for Keith and Make International on show: “One of the images is a whole wall of ceramic that's basically my 15 year history of making at the factory . It has nearly every single range we have done. It made me quite tired just to look at it all.”
Keith has also caught up with Joanna, who works for Make International (“Basically, she's our woman in China”) and with Jung, the factory manager who Keith’s known for 17 years.
After visiting China and Hon Kong, Keith and Marj are heading to Clay Gulgong in New South Wales. On Monday 15th April, he’ll be in conversation with Catherine du Peloux Menagé on the stage of The Prince of Wales Opera House, and on Tuesday 16th, he’ll launch a daily ThrowDownUnder challenge for potters attending the festival. He might not have packed the Bucket of Doom, but we’re sure he’ll improvise.
