Today British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) launches the full programme for its ninth edition, taking place from 6 September to 19 October 2025, with six weeks of free exhibitions, screenings, talks and events dispersed across the former Spode factory site in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent.
Hot on the heels of Stoke-on-Trent being named a World Craft City, and in the year that the city celebrates its centenary, the 2025 British Ceramics Biennial spotlights leading international contemporary ceramic artists and introduces fresh new talent through new commissions and partnerships, drawing on Stoke-on-Trent’s industrial heritage and creative spirit.
Read the full press release here
Programme highlights
- BCB’s flagship exhibition, Award, bringing together new work by 10 leading artists competing for the £10,000 BCB Award Prize. They include Jane Perryman, whose plant-dyed ceramics chart her 20-year rewilding of an agricultural wasteland, and Daniel Silver who examines the human experience through his ceramic and oil paint sculptures.
- The new wave of artists working in clay introduced through Fresh.
- Playscape: an experimental rammed earth architecture project with Tuckey Design Studio that will transform construction clay spoil and aggregate into a children’s play space.
- BCB’s first Clay Films programme showcasing the work of 10 Global Majority artists working in film and clay – an area of practice which has to date received little exposure.
- Josie KO’s The Chimney Princess for the BCB People & Place Commission, in which she explores the role of Black women in Stoke-on-Trent and creates a new goddess for the city.
- Clay Conference examining the opportunities, challenges and environmental impact of re-using clay sourced from UK construction spoil.
- Slip Tales: a contemporary response to Staffordshire’s heritage of slip decoration shown in a display of tableware made by local communities.
- Raverina’s Dance Floor: an interactive, sensory art installation by Carolina Garfo inspired by the ceramic practices of the Algarve in Portugal.
- New work from rising ceramic stars Tim Fluck, Caroline Gray, Andrea Leigh, Chi Onwordi and Krzysztof Strzelecki created during their Fresh Talent Residencies.
“It is wonderful to be back at Spode for the next British Ceramics Biennial. We’ll be animating this important post-industrial site with ambitious, imaginative and important works in clay and ceramic. The Biennial is a true celebration of the clay’s creative potential, both for making beautiful objects and for tackling some of the most pressing issues of our time. I’m looking forward to sharing the work of over 60 outstanding artists with our thousands of visitors over the course of the Biennial.”
– Clare Wood, CEO & Artistic Director of British Ceramics Biennial
BCB’s artistic programme is internationally recognised for its creative ambition and as a catalyst for positive change. Since 2009, the British Ceramics Biennial has been helping to transform and regenerate Stoke-on-Trent through its engaging year-round programme of artists’ commissions, learning and community projects, and with a vision of making change through clay. All this feeds into the Biennial programme.
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British Ceramics Biennial 2025 Programme
Award
British Ceramics Biennial’s headline exhibition celebrates the vitality of contemporary ceramics practice in the UK, with 10 artists selected from an open submission process to present ambitious new work and compete for the £10,000 BCB Award Prize. The 2025 Award artists are Kyra Cane, Fernando Casasempere, Noor Ali Chagani & Clio Lloyd-Jacob, Susan Hall, Leah Jensen, Charlotte Moore, Jane Perryman, Alison Rees, Daniel Silver and Jo Taylor. Award is the leading platform for contemporary ceramic practice in the UK.
Awarded
After winning the BCB Award Prize at the 2023 British Ceramics Biennial, Mella Shaw returns with a new work interrogating a little-known contribution to the global climate crisis. In this installation, large hand-built ceramic structures and dramatic lighting will explore the ethics and impact of harvesting polymetallic modules from the sea bed for use in electronics.
Fresh
The Fresh exhibition celebrates and promotes the new wave of artists working in clay. Twenty-five early career artists from the UK and Ireland are selected to take part, with four Fresh Talent Prizes given out during the Biennial. The 25 artists will be announced in the summer.
Fresh Talent
During the 2023 Biennial, five Fresh Talent Prizes were given to artists from Fresh, which included residencies with University of Staffordshire, Guldagergaard International Ceramics Research Center, Grymsdyke Farm, BCB Studio and Bolesławiec Cultural Centre . The artists showing the outcome of their residencies are Tim Fluck, Caroline Gray, Andrea Leigh, Chi Onwordi and Krzysztof Strzelecki.
People & Place Commission
BCB’s People & Place Commission sees artist Josie KO exploring the role of Black women in Stoke-on-Trent in The Chimney Princess. Inspired by the shape of Stoke-on-Trent’s iconic bottle kilns, Josie KO will create a new goddess for the city in collaboration with local communities. Standing five feet tall and hand built from black clay, the deity figure will be displayed ‘dancing’ on a spinning turntable in an installation setting inspired by Stoke-on-Trent’s Trentham Gardens.
Playscape
This experimental rammed earth architecture project is a response to learning that the central area of Stoke town currently lacks adequate children’s play facilities. Playscape is a collaboration between BCB Associate Artist Sarah Fraser, Tuckey Design Studio, rammed earth construction specialist Sami Akkach and University of Staffordshire Architecture students that will transform construction clay spoil into a children’s play space. Following a pilot phase, a temporary playscape environment will be shown at the Biennial, to test and inform an ambition to create a permanent rammed earth playscape for Stoke town. During BCB, families will be able to engage with the project and the rammed earth process in the engagement space.
Raverina’s Dance Floor
This interactive, sensory art installation by Portuguese artist Carolina Garfo is inspired by the ceramic practices of the Algarve and explores the intersection between sound and ceramics. The installation features a wave pool initiating a sound artwork with a projection of the artist’s fictional documentary film, ‘Raverina’.
Clay Films
This new element of the Biennial programme is an open submission opportunity for Global Majority artists of African and Caribbean heritage based anywhere in the world who work in film and clay. A panel of film experts, artists and curators will select 10 works for screening. Clay Films has been devised to reflect the expanding range of ways that artists work with clay, in this case showcasing the high quality of artist film work being made – an area of practice which has to date received limited exposure.
Ceramic Cities Exchange international partnership
This creative exchange programme connects Stoke-on-Trent with Bolesławiec, Poland – two cities sharing a rich ceramic heritage. The exchange will be captured in a film presented at the 2025 Biennial. Ceramic Cities Exchange is part of the British Council UK Poland Season 2025. BCB’s partnership with The Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec supports six artists aged 18–24 to gain international exposure and explore how ceramics heritage informs contemporary practice.
Clay Conference: From Waste to Resource: Circular Economies For Construction Clay Spoil
This conference, taking place on 2 October, forms a key part of British Ceramic Biennial’s 19-month research initiative focused on the creative re-use of construction clay spoil. The project explores the opportunities and challenges of re-using clay sourced from UK construction spoil across a range of scales – from individual artists and local communities to large-scale industrial applications.
Led by Claire Baily, a London-based artist, researcher and educator, the conference will present the research findings and build on its ideas through presentations, panel discussions and keynote speeches.
Slip Tales
Part of BCB’s year-round programme working with community groups in Stoke-on-Trent, Slip Tales is an exploration and appreciation of the history and heritage of Staffordshire slipware, which originated in the mid-17th century as elaborately decorated dishes with a distinctive application of the surface pattern design. The participants have created contemporary interpretations of slipware for this project, learning new clay skills and processes and exploring materials. By bringing people together in a creative setting, this collective, positive process supports the building of community cohesion and support networks. Their contemporary interpretations will be shown at the Biennial.
Engagement space and events programme
Throughout the British Ceramics Biennial there will be a diverse talks and events programme through which visitors can explore and experience clay for themselves and share ideas and inspiration.
For more press information please contact Iliana Taliotis mail@ilianataliotis.com
For all other enquiries please email info@britishceramicsbiennial.com