Elspeth Owen is looking for broken pots

Call for broken ceramic shards
We’re delighted to announce an exciting opportunity to be part of Elspeth Owen’s installation for Award 2023, ‘Beyond Repair’ which will be on show at our festival in September. The installation will be made up almost entirely of fragments of Elspeth’s work and donated fragments, with only a path of white pots that will be newly fired – the remnants of both her history and that of Stoke-on-Trent.

Elspeth is inviting the people of Stoke-on-Trent and further afield to contribute to the creation of this ‘landscape’ made entirely of broken ceramic shards. All kinds of broken ceramics are welcome, from shattered plates to cracked figurines, even broken bricks and pipes. She would especially like pieces that have been waiting to be mended for a long time, that are never going to be mended and are ready to move on to a new life as shards. Every contribution will add to the story of clay making and clay breaking in our world today. Plus, it’s a chance to give your irreparable items a new life as a part of this incredible work of art.



To send your shards
You can send your shards by post or drop them off at our collection point in Stoke.

By post (1st May-10th September)

Care of: Rhiannon Ewing-James, Room L416 Flaxman Building, Staffordshire University, College Road, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST4 2DE

If there is a story behind the broken pieces, please include it with your shards.

In-person drop off (1st May-10th September)

Spode Museum Trust, 32 Elenora St, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 1QD

There will be paper and pens next to the drop-off box. Please include any stories you have of the broken pieces.



You can also email any stories relating to your shards to rhiannon@britishceramicsbiennial.com.