Touchstone celebrates the breadth of Irish ceramic practice featuring a variety of approaches to working with clay. It promises to be a visual feast exploring form, figure, function and installation based works. Touchstone will provide an opportunity for national / international visitors to experience a comprehensive body of contemporary Irish ceramics.

An independent panel of three selected from over 100 applications. The exhibition showcases the work of 36 makers of and from Ireland, representing a critical mass of practitioners. Through Touchstone, we will celebrate the highest quality craftsmanship; the selected group includes the work of established makers, the caliber of Frances Lambe, Cormac Boydell, Sara Flynn, Grainne Watts alongside makers who are embarking on their careers, Cathy Burke, Caroline Getty and Aisling McElwain.

Ceramics Ireland is an impactful membership organisation and this series of exhibitions in tandem with our other activities helps us to prioritise activation, education and promotion of our sector to guarantee the future landscape of ceramics in Ireland, while raising the international profile of Irish ceramics. This series of exhibitions is lead by curators Elaine Riordan and Tina Byrne.

It is the third exhibition in the Ceramics Ireland triennial series and will coincide with the 40^th anniversary of the organisation, founded in 1977. Touchstone will include a selection of archival materials celebrating our history.

The exhibition will tour to the National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, November 18^th – January 21^st 2018.

The selected group includes both the work of emerging and established makers: Cormac Boydell, Nuala Creed, Jack Doherty, Isobel Egan, Michael Flynn, Sara Flynn, Adam Frew, Peter Fulop, Jennifer Hickey, Alison Kay, Frances Lambe, Andrew Ludick, Claire McLaughlin, Deirdre McLoughlin, Lucy Morrow, Ingrid Murphy, Nuala O’Donovan, Marcus O’Mahony, Mandy Parslow, Owen Quinlain, Alex Scott, Grainne Watts, Katharine West, Elaine Riordan, Cathy Burke, Aisling McElwain, Tara Butler Frey, Caroline Getty, Susan O’Byrne, Mark Campden, Gus Mabelson, Ann McBride, Eleanor Swan, Markus Jungmann, Mike Byrne and Vicki Sutherland.