Networks in Ceramics '96, was the second in a series of international conferences entitled Interaction in Ceramics - Art, Design and Research. The Conference was organised by the University of Art and Design Helsinki UIAH as a forum for interacting and networking. It will survey the prospects of professions in ceramic art and design, and how they are influenced by new means of communication. 
Themes

• Perspectives on education

Teacher's identity 
Ceramic sculpture 
• Reviewing ceramic art and design

Writing on ceramics 
Individual and tradition 
Aspects of time 
• Research and new territories
• Exploring the new technology

Computer as the ceramists tool 
Expanding the field of artistic expression 

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Richard Burkett
Associate Professor of Ceramics 
San Diego State University 
USA 

• Richard Burkett is Associate Professor of Ceramics at San Diego State 

University. His work in clay includes both pottery and sculpture. He is the author of the HyperGlaze software. He also runs the CeramicsWeb and Ceramics Gopher information servers on the Internet, and is a co-owner of ClayArt, the email ceramics discussion group. 

Marie-Thérèse Coullery
Secretary General 
International Academy of Ceramics 
Switzerland 

• Marie-Thérèse Coullery is Secretary General of the International Academy of Ceramics in Geneva. She was previously deputy curator of a private museum of Chinese and Japanese art, and curator of the Ariana Museum. She has wide experience in art and ceramics includes teaching, writing articles, organising exhibitions and sitting on juries for ceramics in Switzerland and abroad. 

David Hamilton
Professor, Course Director 
Royal College of Art 
United Kingdom 

• David Hamilton is Professor of Ceramics & Glass at the Royal College of Art in London. He was Group Design Director at Wedgwood in 1989-1992. His professional practice includes industrial and commercial consultancy as well as architectural application of ceramics in the Public Art context. His current interest in the mutual benefits of partnerships between industry & commerce and the crafts and arts. 

Susan Peterson
Potter, Educator and Author 
Arizona, USA 

• Susan Peterson is one of the foremost figures in ceramic art education in the United States. Since 1959 she has developed ceramic departments and taught at numerous American schools, art institutes and universities. As a practising potter as well, Mrs. Peterson is a frequent exhibitor. Her work is represented in major museum and private collections. She has written several books on the heritage of ceramics. 

Adriaan van Spanje
General Director 
European Ceramics Work Centre 
The Netherlands 

• Adriaan van Spanje studied theology and philosophy. After 15 years as manager of a mime-theatre, he was appointed Director of a ceramic workshop which he developed into the European Ceramics Work Centre. He is currently General Director of the Centre. 

Rudolf Staffel
Ceramic Artist, Professor Emeritus in Ceramics 
Pennsylvania, USA 

• Rudolf Staffel is Emeritus Professor of Ceramics, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, where he initiated the program and taught from 1940 to 1978. Since1959 his innovative work in porcelain has been collected by museums throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. Internationally recognized, Rudolf Staffel has been the recipient of numerous honors which include the 1995 Gold Medal from the American Craft Council, the nations highest honour in the field. 

Piet Stockmans
Artist, Designer 
Studio Pieter Stockmans C.V. 
Belgium 

• Piet Stockmans is a freelance designer and Professor of Industrial Design at the Limburg Catholic University in Genk. He worked as a designer at the Royal Mosa porcelain factory in Maastricht in 1969 - 89. He was Professor of Ceramics Design at the Academy of Industrial Design in Einhoven in 1983 - 85. He was awarded an Official Prize for Visual Arts by the Flemish Community in 1988. 

Xavier Toubes
Artistic Director 
European Ceramics Work Centre 
The Netherlands 

• After studies in London and New York, Xavier Toubes taught art at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1983-91. He received first prize at the Bienal Europea de Cerámica, Spain in 1993, a grant-award from the National Endowment for the Arts, USA in 1986 and from the Ministry of Culture, Spain, in1983. At present Xavier Toubes is Director of the European Ceramics Work Centre.