Jacques Kaufmann

Introduction of experts

Jacques Kaufmann, born in 1954 in Casablanca, Morocco, is a dual French-Swiss citizen. He graduated from the School of Applied Arts in Geneva in 1977. He is now the Honorary President of IAC, the Director of the Ceramic Art Museum of Beijing Junior High School, and the President of the Ceramic Research Institute of Beijing Junior High School. He has exhibited and held individual ceramic exhibitions in Geneva, France, Finland, China, Japan and other countries. His works have won many awards in different international ceramics competitions, such as: in 1982, he won the medal of the 8th International Ceramics Biennale in France, the first prize of the 2nd International Ceramics Biennale in 1982, the gold medal of the Seattle International Ceramics Institute in 1984, the best award of the 1st International Ceramics Biennale in Sargmina in 1993, the first prize of the 4th International Ceramics Biennale in Karouge in 1993, etc. He has also been invited to give lectures at universities in different countries around the world. He is also a visiting professor at the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, Shanghai University of the Arts, China Academy of Art, Kookmin University of Korea and other universities. His art works were collected by many museums in different countries around the world, such as Switzerland Geneva Craft Museum, Berlin Decorative Art Museum, Canada Clay and Glass Gallery, Finland Porvoo International Contemporary Museum, South Korea World Ceramic Exhibition Foundation, French Manelli Museum, Taiwan Yingge Ceramics Museum, South Korea Gimhae Museum of Clay Architecture and Ceramics, Switzerland Cham Ceramic Art Museum Foundation, etc. 

As a very active and influential contemporary ceramist in the world, Kaufman has a deep study of Oriental philosophy. Since his first visit to China in 1998, he has traveled all over China in the past 20 years. The culture and history of China's many ceramic regions and different regions have given Kaufman the nourishment of ceramic creation, and most of his works have been completed in Xi 'an, Guangzhou, Jingdezhen, Changsha and other places.

In Kaufman's opinion, the scale of human history and the history of natural materials is different. A person's memory is only a few decades, while the time recorded on natural materials is millions or even billions of years. Human beings are living creatures in nature. Natural materials record nature and the history of human beings contained in nature. For Kaufman, ceramics are more than just decorations. The ultimate goal of creation is not to achieve technical achievements, but to complete artistic expression and release from artistic restrictions. His method of artistic creation can be said to be a possible answer to the question of the place of pottery and pottery technology in contemporary art and the place of the potter in the art world.

famous works