A long-term rotational exhibition by the University of Pretoria (UP) Museums is being held in partnership with Corobrik, Ceramics Southern Africa and the City of Tshwane’s Pretoria Art Museum from October 2021 to December 2022. The theme of the exhibition is “Unspoken”, and showcases signature South African ceramics from the Corobrik Collection.

In the past, ceramics were predominantly considered as a medium, but over time, became more of an art form, moving into the sphere of contemporary art. The works in this exhibition not only bridge the gaps between ceramics and time, but also seek to examine the unspoken narratives within the iconic Corobrik Collection.

Several artists among many others (Ayanda Mji, Jerice Doeg, Watson Nyambeni, Esias Bosch, Simon Masilo, Josephine Ghesa, Henriette Ngako, Nic Sithole and Madoda Fani) are selected to explore their unspoken biographies. Some as emerging ceramists, and how and why their art is influenced by personal journeys, the profession and the role ceramics play within contemporary art. Over time, the exhibition will rotate selected artists annually to feature in Unspoken.

Ceramics as a medium of creativity allows for artists to speak of heritage, politics and religion; on many occasions, ceramic art has been a form of social commentary. Unspoken aims to remove the former boundaries between ceramics as a craft and a fine art. The artists utilised ceramics to explore everyday issues, moments and emotions and express who they are and their origins.

The Corobrik Collection comprises 276 works by more than 179 South African artists. The exhibition creates the opportunity for viewers to delve into the many unspoken conversations of the diversity of artists, and the ever-expanding Corobrik Collection and its valuable contributions in preserving and growing SA’s most iconic ceramic collections.

Corobrik was founded in 1902, but has become a market leader and major South African manufacturer of clay bricks, masonry, pavers and concrete earth-retaining systems. They produce more than 5 million products each day and have a footprint in every major city in South Africa. In 1982, Corobrik assumed sponsorship of Ceramics SA, which began as the Association of Potters of Southern Africa and which began this iconic ceramic art collection in 1977. Ceramics SA continues to contribute to the Corobrik Collection with award-winning ceramics from regional and national exhibitions.

This prestigious local ceramic art collection is currently housed in the Pretoria Art Museum. UP signed a long-term loan agreement with Corobrik in 2020 and a memorandum of understanding with the Pretoria Art Museum in 2021 regarding the Unspoken exhibition which for the first time brings nearly the entire Corobrik Collection onto public display within a single gallery in the Old Arts Building.

Unspoken is more than just an exhibition of signature ceramics; it serves as a provocation to open discussions and questions about how ceramics are viewed by a diversity of audiences and how artists view their art.

The Corobrik Collection represents individual artists, the development of studio ceramics from the work of rural traditional potters to contemporary artists of South Africa over the past four decades. Some artists must be inspired by generations of ceramic-making as a tradition, where skills were passed on from one generation to the next. The making of vessels, beer pots, cooking pots -– whether as functional household items or symbolic works – has been an ongoing tradition in many South African cultures and are perhaps at risk today of becoming a lost tradition. These early skills have inspired later generation artists to use that which may have been inherited, to inspire and be creative in the construction of contemporary ceramics. For example, the renowned South African artist Nic Sithole (b. 1946) learnt his  ceramic-making skills from his maternal grandmother

Ceramics as a medium can accordingly transition seamlessly from the past into the present through the histories of its makers and that which is unspoken. In this exhibition, works in the Corobrik Collection are paired into groups to deliberately create conversations, explore shared histories, tensions and their contemporary functions and meaning, allowing for more nuanced perspectives in the world of ceramics.

On 24 November 2021 the UP Museums held a previewing for all the partners. This exquisite collection of contemporary ceramic art is a quality exhibition worth the visit. The Unspoken exhibition of the Corobrik Collection is open to public viewing until 13 December 2021 and will reopen on 17 January 2022, Mondays to Fridays from 8am to 1pm. For more information, email [email protected] or visit https://www.up.ac.za/museums-collections