Ceramicist Simon Ward has won the bronze award at the 3rd World Ceramic Biennale in Korea for his work ‘Secret meanings of a forgotten craft’, which is currently featured on the craftscotland home page and refers to the gradual demise of traditional crafts and how objects that used to be considered tools have now become objects for display.

The World Ceramic Biennale is the most prestigious ceramics event in the world and is held every two years in Korea.  Almost 1,500 artists from 67 different countries applied to participate in this year's Biennale and only 190 were invited to exhibit.   

The pieces that Simon created for the exhibition in Korea are made from wheel thrown porcelain with a gas fired celadon glaze.  The handles were created with found driftwood from Lundin Links while the silver fixings are made by Scottish-based artist Mark Powell.  By creating works that allude to having a function or purpose and incorporating secret references, he invites the viewer to determine how they were once used.

Simon, who currently has a WASPs studio in Edinburgh and lectures at Grays School of Art in Aberdeen, studied ceramics at South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education and the Royal College of Art and has exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the UK as well as internationally in countries including New Zealand, USA and Japan.  He has also completed artist residencies in France, Norway and Japan.

Simon said “Being a part of this major international exhibition really helped to determine where I am placed in the world of ceramics. Visiting the symposium events in Korea also offered a great chance to forge international links and discuss the future direction of ceramics.”

The 2005 exhibition runs from 23 April to 19 June and around 5 million visitors are expected to attend.