Bandol Ceramic Festival | The Potters’ Spring • Bandol Tourisme

Every year, in spring, Bandol transforms into an open-air gallery with its Bandol Céramique Festival. Organized by the Printemps des Potiers association, this event announces the return of sunny days with creativity and poetry...

the bandol ceramic festival: a love story

The Bandol Ceramic Festival (former Spring of the Potters) is above all a love story. The love of the organizers, members of the association Spring of the Potters, for a material, clay and for a profession, pottery. The desire behind this beautiful highlight is above all to create a meeting around ceramics. How ? By showcasing artists from all over the world, by exhibiting their works, each more creative than the last, and by making an entire city, Bandol, available to them.

Thus, for years thematic exhibitions have been set up in the city's galleries, a potters' market mingles with the experts of our marina and artistic meetings have been organized.

And this year, for the 40th anniversary of the festival, one thing is certain: Bandol will be the largest creative workshop in the Var!

what awaits you in 2024

Festival Bandol Céramique (Printemps des Potiers)

“On the occasion of its forty years and for the first time, Le Printemps des Potiers invites four artists to return and exhibit. Daphne Corregan, Camille Virot, Hervé Rousseau and Jean-François Thiérion are trailblazers from whom admired ceramics now benefit and where creators no longer bother to name their approach. (…) These same artists expressed the wish to in turn invite and open their joint exhibition to ceramists whose approach and talent they appreciate: Benoît Pouplard, Ule Ewelt, Mia Refslund Jensen. »

Stéphanie Le Follic-Hadida, Doctor in Art History

This anniversary edition will be placed under the sign of the exceptional with great renowned ceramists ! The latter, accompanied by 66 professionals material, will have the opportunity to exhibit their works through several events: potters' market, exhibitions, screenings, photo trails, public forum... In short, for a whole month, Bandol will be focused on ceramic art. As for the details, sit back and let us show you the program for your month of April…

a highlight in several stages

Exhibition “Les _Re_Trouvailles”, 40 years of exhibitions

When: March 30 to April 28, 2024.
Joseph Raisou Gallery (1 rue des écoles): “Lands of expression 2024”.
Hall of Maison Tholosan (5 rue Gabriel Péri): “Le Vase” by the Terres de Provence association.
Please note: Saturday March 30, opening guided tour from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and opening reception in the presence of artists and officials at 18 p.m.

Enjoy your weekend or vacation week to Bandol to take a look at the exhibitions of the city's two art galleries: the Ravezou Gallery and Tholosan House. You will have the opportunity to admire the works of the following artists: Dahpné Corregan, Hervé Rousseau, Jean-François Thierion, Camille Virot, Ule Ewelt, Mia Jensen and Benoît Pouplard.

Photographic tour on the Quai Charles de Gaulle

What: outdoor photo exhibition.
When: March 15 to April 28, 2024.
Where: promenade of Quai Charles de Gaulle (port side shops).

A good way to learn about art: simply admire it during a walk. This open-air exhibition is intended to be uninhibited and accessible to all. At the corner of a shop, after your coffee on the terrace or while shopping in our daily market, come and observe and appreciate the photographs of ceramic works. Pretty cool, right?

Artistic and historical exhibition

The exhibition :

The theme: Washi, from mulberry to manga, the art of paper in Japan.
When: March 30 to April 27, 2024.
Where: Media library (11 rue des écoles).

Here is a theme that will appeal to both adults and teenagers who love Japanese anime! The adult space of Mediatheque welcomes this exhibition resulting from the meeting between the anthropologist of natural techniques Frédéric Joulian, the historian of artisanal trades Yuji Yonehara, and the collaboration with the cartoonist Itsu Horiguchi. Presented in the form of 22 comic strips, the exhibition retraces the manufacturing process and the use of Japanese paper: Washi.

The Potters' market on the port of Bandol

What: demonstration workshops, events and sale of ceramics.
When: Sunday March 31 and Monday April 1, 2024 (Easter weekend), from 9 a.m. to 19 p.m. DUE TO WEATHER, MARKET CANCELED ON SUNDAY 31.
Or on Harbour from the city.

We have to admit, this weekend is our favorite part of the Bandol Céramique Festival! The soul of the Printemps des Potiers is found here, on the port, where the great moments of Bandolese life take place (markets, Boat show, The English have the Coast, etc). For two days, 66 artists come to exhibit, sell and meet amateurs and simply curious people. Anticipated moment of the Easter weekend, come and stroll on the quay after hunting for eggs with the children and enjoy a creative moment by the sea.

To learn more, it's here :

The potters' market

projection of films around ceramics

The theme: ceramic arts.
Jules Verne Theater (11 rue des écoles): Saturday April 6, 2024 from 9 a.m. to 20 p.m., free admission.
Salle Pagnol (Maison Tholosan, 5 rue Gabriel Péri): Saturday April 20 at 14 p.m.

Film screenings are a invitation to discover the profession ceramist in the world, through image and cinema. Thus, the selection of films offered reveals, among other things, an approach to ceramics beyond the material. Unusual meetings, not to be missed under any circumstances!

public day: demonstrations and conferences

What: demonstrations and meetings with pottery professionals.
When: Saturday April 6 from 9 a.m. to 18 p.m.
Where: Jules Verne Theater (11 rue des écoles), free entry.

Designed in the form of technical demonstrations and meetings, this special day is above all offered for its human approach to ceramics. You will have the opportunity toobserve the artists create and ask them the questions you want. A good way for you to deepen your knowledge and approach artists recognized in their field.

Other events at the Bandol Céramique Festival

Comedy show: grounding

When: Tuesday April 9 at 19 p.m.
Where: Jules Verne Theater (11 rue des écoles).
For whom: all ages, from 6 years old.
Price: €15 / €10 (reduced rate, job seekers, young people under 18, students, CE, groups of more than 10 people, Bandolese associations) / free for under 12s. Free placement.

The two manipulative actors who will welcome you will be: Sébastien Dehaye and François Salon. One is tall and clumsy, the other is precise and straight, they are nicknamed Bamboo and Ash. Inspired by the movements of potters scrutinized by gestural theater, this burlesque duo models clay puppets. From this craftsmanship, the figures of a fantastic bestiary are born where Man and the Earth mingle and unravel, form and deform until they break. This theater of matter questions with poetry the resilience of the Earth and the relationship that man has with it.

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Show: Fang, by the Spanish company Animal Religion

When: Saturday April 27 at 20:30 p.m.
Where: Jules Verne Theater (11 rue des écoles).
Price: €15 / €10 (reduced rate, job seekers, young people under 18, students, CE, groups of more than 10 people, Bandolese associations) / free for under 12s. Free placement.

The basis of the exhibition is the relationship between clay and the body, exploring its capacity to molding oneself and being molded through circus acrobatics. The manipulation of mud on stage takes the audience on a journey into a show full of unique and suggestive shapes and sculptures. This treatment makes the show unique each time it is presented and can surprise both the audience and the artist. As the show unfolds, one can observe physical changes in the materials. The human body gets tired, the clay becomes deformed. Both are sweating. The line that separates them fades and the bodies become one.

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