The Ceramics Space is a two-part gallery that can be visited free of charge, even outside exhibition opening hours. It is not a storage area, nor is it an exhibition furnished with detailed explanations. Think of the two parts of the gallery as the two hemispheres of the human brain. The left hemisphere is in charge of logical thought, rational perception, and language use, while the right side is responsible for visuality, creativity, and imagination.

The Ceramics Space takes this duality as the model for museum collecting and conceptualisation. In the area corresponding to the left hemisphere, ceramics of the world are grouped logically, according to geographical area, ceramics centre, and shape, while the right hemisphere area offers an intuitive response to the myriad worlds of ceramics and explores their interconnections.

Why ceramics?

Because ceramics are everywhere: they have existed for millennia with ever-changing forms and functions. They are made and used by women and men, poor and rich alike. Although largely supplanted in modern households, they are still to be found in the form of roof tiles, urns, cups, ashtrays, and even swallows’ nests. Because each piece of pottery is a microcosm: creator and user, function, style, material, pattern, colour, sound, volume, and inscription all have their secrets to tell about the power of clay to connect peoples, epochs, societies, and customs. Because ceramics represent one of the most common materials in the museum’s collection: we have over 35,000 ceramic objects from five continents. While only a tenth of these can be put on display, this is hopefully sufficient to give visitors an impression of the collection, a sense of the museum’s passion for collecting, an awareness of its scientific mission, and a glimpse into the infinity of ideas embodied in the museum’s artefacts.