Future Ecologies of Clay

Examining how artworks in the ‘expanded field of clay’ can be made accessible in museum collections

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About the Project

Future Ecologies of Clay addresses the challenges of UK museums in collecting ephemeral, live, performative, site-specific and participatory works in clay. The project seeks to ensure that artworks in the ‘expanded field of clay’ can be identified, explored and analysed in the future.

Context

Future Ecologies of Clay is a three-year AHRC-funded collaborative project between the V&A and the Ceramics Research Centre at the University of Westminster. Bringing together artistic, academic and curatorial expertise from the two teams, the project will examine the significant gap between what is being made and exhibited by contemporary artists working with clay, and what is represented in museum collections. It will address the challenge of collecting artworks in the expanded field of clay and the ability of UK museums to make them accessible and visible to future audiences.

Aim

The aim of this research is to ensure recent and historical examples of ephemeral, live, performative, site-specific and participatory works in clay can be identified, explored and analysed in the future. It will identify challenges and gaps in existing collecting strategies and taxonomies in museums and suggest how artists and curators can increase the representation of contemporary clay artworks that are not tangible, permanent objects. We aim to open up a new area of discourse in the field of museology concerning the collecting and archiving of the expanded field of clay practices.

Outcomes

Outcomes will include: a project website to facilitate discussion and idea generation; a ‘long conference’ comprising a series of seminars supporting knowledge transfer and exploration; a Collection and Archives Strategy Document that supports artists and curators in the collection and preservation of non-permanent clay artworks; four new artworks developed as case studies of ephemeral, site-specific, participatory and live clay practice with four UK museums, including the V&A; and a publication of histories, case studies, research findings, journal articles and conference papers.

Project Outputs

Call for Papers (PDF)

PDF (112 kb)

Call for Papers // Deadline: 16 March 2026

Permanence / Impermanence: Collecting and archiving contemporary clay practices ‘Future Ecologies of Clay’ is hosting a conference to address how artworks in the ‘expanded field of clay’ can be made accessible and visible to current and future audiences. The conference will take place in-person in London, 24-26 June 2026. Artists’ practices in the expanded field of clay can result in raw clay artworks, large-scale site-specific installations, performance-based events and involve audience participation. Collecting such works poses significant challenges to museums. Proposals for conference presentations are now invited from artists, academics and museum professionals. The organisers particularly welcome case studies of artworks, acquisitions, exhibitions, interventions or other museum projects. The deadline for proposals is 16 March 2026. Further details are available at https://cream.ac.uk/ceramics-research-centre-uk/ and in attached document.

The Team

Alun Graves

Senior Curator, Ceramics and Glass 1900 – now

Alun Graves is Senior Curator, Ceramics and Glass 1900–now, in the Decorative Art and Sculpture Department at the V&A, London. He is the author of Studio Ceramics: British Studio Pottery 1900 to Now (Thames & Hudson, 2023) and has written widely on 20 ... Read more

Natalie Baerselman le Gros

Research Fellow

Natalie is a PhD student at the University of East Anglia studying ‘The Abstract Vessel: defining ‘vesselism’ in the New British Ceramic (1955-1995)’. She is a curator, editor and writer and has worked with important ceramic collections at the Sainsbu ... Read more

External Partners

Clare Twomey
- Project Lead, Ceramic Research Centre, University of Westminster
Phoebe Cummings
- Project Co-Lead, Ceramic Research Centre, University of Westminster
Tessa Peters
- Project Co-Lead, Ceramic Research Centre, University of Westminster
Christie Brown
- Project Co-Lead, Ceramic Research Centre, University of Westminster
Lily Crowther
- Research Fellow, Ceramic Research Centre, University of Westminster
Sophia Matthews
- Project Administrator, University of Westminster

Events

‘Permanence / Impermanence: Collecting and archiving contemporary clay practices’ conference

The conference addresses how artworks in the ‘expanded field of clay’ can be made accessible and visible to current and future audiences. It will take place from 24-26 June 2026.

This work is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant number UKRI748]. The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funds world-class researchers in a wide range of arts and humanities areas, from philosophy and the creative industries to art conservation and product design. AHRC's research addresses some of society’s biggest challenges such as tackling modern slavery and understanding the ethical implications of artificial intelligence. It also drives growth in the creative economy, and reveals new stories from the national collections held in the UK’s world-renowned museums and galleries.

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Header image: Phoebe Cummings, Triumph of the Immaterial, unfired clay, 2017 (detail)