Why Clay Gulgong Is Special
"Clay is the ultimate of unique expressive creativity"
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Keith and Marj are in New South Wales for Clay Gulgong. After visiting potteries last week, they stopped in Mudgee to see the Regent Theatre, which locals are trying to restore to its full Art Deco glory, before heading to the ceramic festival site.
Over to Keith to tell us about the festival, and why he likes going.
“Clay Gulgong is a week-long event that brings Ceramic Masters from all over the world to a tiny town in New South Wales.
Gulgong is a small town half an hours drive from Mudgee, its slightly larger neighbouring town which is known for its vineyards of various wine labels. It is about a four and a half hour drive through the Blue Mountains from Sydney.
Clay Gulgong is run by the Mansfield Family. Originally created by Janet Mansfield, the bit has been very enthusiastically taken up by Bernadette Mansfield after Janet sadly passed away some years ago.
The week start off with an opening ceremony recognising the original Aboriginal tribe of this region, The Wiradjuri Nation.
Under the careful duration of Bernadette Mansfield the Masters range from wood firers, to handbuilders of varying techniques, throwers, and every conceivable nuanced making in between. The contributors are some of the best and well-known potters in the world on the international stage.
Then there are the delegates, around 1000 people who descend on Gulgong to watch, listen and learn from these protagonists of clay as they demonstrate up on Red Hill just above Gulgong. Red Hill is named thus due to its rich iron clay that is very much prevalent in this region of Australia.
What I find most fascinating and inspirational about this whole wonderous event is that the Masters and delegates mix down in the town in the bars, restaurants, and in the streets all week, exchanging ideas, thoughts, and philosophies about life, clay, and everything. The whole event has an air of unpretentiousness about it with each Master having to take to the stage to talk of their life and career through the week at either the small 1871 Prince of Wales Opera House (where Dame Nelly Melba has performed!) or the Memorial Hall situated in the town.
It's the incredible eclectic nature of the work that is so inspirational, and in the one place you get a sense that clay is the ultimate of unique expressive creativity. For someone like me who has worked in clay for over 40 years, it shows that the possibilities and opportunities that clay gives us are endless.
Coupled with all of the above are satellite shows within the event, one of which is The Matchbox Show. This simple but incredibly effective show takes the classic Australian Redheads matchbox and uses then in an impressive art installation.
People of all walks of life have made artworks that fit inside a matchbox. It’s the very definition for me of the individuality of creativity, and something I would very much like to bring to Capel Salem in Pwllheli when we're up and running. It really felt like the perfect inclusive art initiative. Micheal Ciavarella and his wife Nina Blake are the masterminds behind this simple but wonderfully inspirational concept.”
The possibility of bringing The Matchbox Show to our home in the Llyn Peninsula isn’t the only connection we’re interested in - don’t think we haven’t idly thought about a Pwllheli clay festival, and like Pwllheli, Gulgong has its own Eisteddfod, so there must be some twinning to do there, too!
One final word from Keith on the joys of Clay Gulgong: “…And once you have looked, experienced and partaken in all the events you can always go down to the wood firing bush potters and talk about fire over a beer.”
This is a post from the free level of Keith’s new substack. We’re working on the paid level, which directly supports the restoration of Capel Salem, Pwllheli, North Wales. Paid subscribers will get exclusive behind-the-scenes photography as Capel Salem is restored, advance notice of sales of Keith’s studio work (which always sell out quickly!), and invites to subscriber-only events.