All
Current exhibition

Playing with Fire: Edmund de Waal and Axel Salto

Kunstsilo, Kristiansand, Norway

27 September 2024–2 March 2025

2024 09 Kunst Silo Playing with Fire Web Res 24

Playing with Fire, a collaboration between Edmund de Waal, CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark and Kunstsilo in Norway, is now open at the Kunstsilo before its final stop at The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in 2025.


Playing with Fire, a collaboration between Edmund de Waal, CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark and Kunstsilo in Norway, is now open at the Kunstsilo before its final stop at The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in 2025.

This exhibition brings together a significant number of Salto’s ceramic works from the CLAY Museum and The Tangen Collection at Kunstsilo, the world’s largest collection of Nordic modernist art. Salto’s ceramics are being shown alongside his lesser-known and unseen works on paper, illustrations, writings and textiles, and a major new installation by de Waal which reflects on Salto’s enduring influence.

“Axel Salto is one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century. He created a unique body of ceramic work that continues to fascinate me. His sculptures seem to be on the point of change: glazes are caught in flux. Vases swell as if to burst. He cared about the ways that patterns change course, shift energies, how an animal becomes a person, a man metamorphoses into a stag. Ovid ran powerfully through his life. That moment of change, transformation, is the moment when poetry occurs.”

- Edmund de Waal

Photography: Tor Simen Ulstein

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Current exhibition

British Studio Pottery and the V&A

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

28 October 2024–28 September 2025

Landscape with a calm 01

A selection of works by Edmund de Waal from the V&A collection are included in this exhibition which explores the museum's collecting and exhibiting of studio pottery from the movement's beginnings to the present day.

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Current exhibition

Memory & Migration

The Warburg Institute, London

2 October–20 December 2024

Haworth Tompkins The Warburg Institute London c Hufton Crow 009

To mark the completion of the Warburg Renaissance project and the opening of the Institute’s new gallery space, Memory & Migration presents a selection of objects from the collection that explore its interwoven histories of movement and survival. Included in the exhibition is Edmund de Waal's library of exile, which has been donated to the institute.

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Current exhibition

Golds

Ordovas, London

4 October–13 December 2024

ORDOVAS Golds Installation View 006 scaled

Opening soon at Ordovas, London, is Golds, an exhibition exploring one of the most symbolic colours in the history of art, and how it has been used and represented in the work of significant artists from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. De Waal's 2022 piece, K. 314, will be a part of the show.

Opening soon at Ordovas, London, is Golds, an exhibition exploring one of the most symbolic colours in the history of art, and how it has been used and represented in the work of significant artists from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. De Waal's 2022 piece, K. 314, will be a part of the show.

Installation photography: Stuart Burford

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Current exhibition

Mind the Gap: Selections from the Permanent Collection

Georgia Museum of Art

21 September–1 December 2024

Letters to Amherst II front Edmund de Waal Gagosian New York

De Waal's 2023 piece Letters to Amherst, II, is currently on view at the Georgia Museum of Art as part of their current exhibition highlighting recent acquisitions to the permanent collection.

De Waal's 2023 piece Letters to Amherst, II, is currently on view at the Georgia Museum of Art as part of their current exhibition highlighting recent acquisitions to the permanent collection.

Photography: Alzbeta Jaresova

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Current exhibition

wind, water, stone

New Art Centre, Wiltshire

Edmund de Waal wind water stone at New Art Centre

Several new works, including the tsukubai illustrated here, wind, water, stone, have been installed at the New Art Centre at Roche Court, Wiltshire.

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Featured exhibition

The Shape of Things: Still Life in Britain

Pallant House Gallery, Chichester

11 May–20 October 2024

September Song II 3 Q

The Shape of Things, at Pallant House Gallery, questioned the idea that still life is a lesser genre, showing how important it is to artists and society.

The Shape of Things, at Pallant House Gallery, questioned the idea that still life is a lesser genre, showing how important it is to artists and society.

De Waal's 2021 piece September Song, II, was on display alongside works by Hurvin Anderson, Vanessa Bell, Edward Burra, Patrick Caulfield, Lucian Freud, Gluck, Duncan Grant, Richard Hamilton, Mona Hatoum, Jann Haworth, David Hockney, Lee Miller, Paul Nash, Ben Nicholson, William Nicholson, Eric Ravilious, Anwar Jalal Shemza, William Scott, Walter Sickert, Stanley Spencer, Rachel Whiteread and Clare Woods. The exhibition looked at how these artists have used traditional art history to express the complexities of the human condition.

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Radio

Front Row

Radio programme

Edmund 50 Eamon Mc Cabe

On this episode of BBC Radio 4's cultural programme, Front Row, Edmund de Waal discusses this year's Booker Prize shortlist. Click the icon below to listen.

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Featured exhibition

letters home

Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
14 June–10 August 2024

2406 Galerie Max Hetzler31267 photo def image

This exhibition included both the largest free-standing clay vessels that Edmund de Waal has ever created, and a large-scale pavilion titled there are still songs to sing beyond mankind, 2024.

This exhibition included both the largest free-standing clay vessels that Edmund de Waal has ever created, and a large-scale pavilion titled there are still songs to sing beyond mankind, 2024.

Photography: def image

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Featured exhibition

Fragments of Memory

Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau, Dresden

16 March–8 September 2024

47 R5 A1769 web

Fragments of Memory. The Treasury of St Vitus Cathedral in Prague in Dialogue with Edmund de Waal, Josef Koudelka and Julian Rosefeld was on show at Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau, Dresden. The exhibition included de Waal's 2016 large-scale installation irrkunst.

Fragments of Memory. The Treasury of St Vitus Cathedral in Prague in Dialogue with Edmund de Waal, Josef Koudelka and Julian Rosefeld was on show at Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau, Dresden. The exhibition included de Waal's 2016 large-scale installation irrkunst.

Photography: Martin Polák

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Announcement

Chair of Booker Prize Judging Panel

Edmund de waal booker prize chair

Edmund de Waal chaired the 2024 Booker Prize judging panel, joined by award-winning novelist Sara Collins; Fiction Editor of the Guardian, Justine Jordan; world-renowned writer and professor Yiyun Li; and musician, composer and producer Nitin Sawhney.

Edmund de Waal chaired the 2024 Booker Prize judging panel, joined by award-winning novelist Sara Collins; Fiction Editor of the Guardian, Justine Jordan; world-renowned writer and professor Yiyun Li; and musician, composer and producer Nitin Sawhney.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey was named the winner of the Booker Prize 2024. The winner was announced by Edmund de Waal at a ceremony held at Old Billingsgate in London.

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Past News
Exhibition

5&20

99 Bishopsgate, London
15 May–27 September 2024

36a arcady

5&20, an exhibition co-curated by Brookfield Properties and Crafts Council was on view in the foyer of 99 Bishopsgate. Edmund de Waal's 2007 piece, Arcady, was included in the exhibition alongside other works from Crafts Council Collection.

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Exhibition

From Then to Now

Glyndebourne, East Sussex
16 May – 8 September 2024

EDW Glyndebourne poster detail 1

Edmund de Waal created a poster celebrating Handel's Giulio Cesare as part of Glyndebourne's 90th anniversary celebrations, which was presented in the exhibition From Then to Now: 90 Years of Glyndebourne Posters.

Edmund de Waal created a poster celebrating Handel's Giulio Cesare as part of Glyndebourne's 90th anniversary celebrations, which was presented in the exhibition From Then to Now: 90 Years of Glyndebourne Posters.

The exhibition brought together newly commissioned posters responding to their 2024 Festival, alongside rarely seen posters from their archive.

Commissioned artists included Amy Beager, Rana Begum, Pablo Bronstein, Morag Caister, Michael Craig-Martin, Antony Gormley, Maggi Hambling, Chris Ofili, Vicken Parsons, Fiona Rae, and Conrad Shawcross. Each artist selected one production from Glyndebourne’s Festival 2024 repertoire to promote.

Photography: Alzbeta Jaresova

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Event

Letters Home

American Academy in Berlin

7.30pm, 13 June 2024

Meissen plate

In this illustrated lecture, Edmund de Waal explored his relationship with the idea of home through his writings and artistic practice. The lecture included discussion of his projects in Venice and at the Musée Camondo, Paris; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; Japanisches Palais, Dresden; and in Berlin.

In this illustrated lecture, Edmund de Waal explored his relationship with the idea of home through his writings and artistic practice. The lecture included discussion of his projects in Venice and at the Musée Camondo, Paris; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; Japanisches Palais, Dresden; and in Berlin.

Photography: Tom Jamieson

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Event

Talk

Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin

11.00am, 15 June 2024

Ed W portrait 11 Ben Mc Kee

In conjunction with his exhibition letters home, Edmund de Waal gave a talk at Galerie Max Hetzler, Potsdamer Straße 77-87, in Berlin, on Saturday, 15 June.

In conjunction with his exhibition letters home, Edmund de Waal gave a talk at Galerie Max Hetzler, Potsdamer Straße 77-87, in Berlin, on Saturday, 15 June.

Taking place in the exhibition space, de Waal discussed his writings and artistic practice for this special event, touching on notions of home, memory and identity.

Photography: Ben McKee

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Exhibition

Playing with Fire: Edmund de Waal and Axel Salto

CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark

8 October 2023–11 August 2024

Edmund de Waal Axel Salto Clay Denmark 04

Edmund de Waal curated an exhibition of acclaimed Danish ceramicist, Axel Salto (1889–1961), considered one of the greatest masters of twentieth-century ceramic art.

Edmund de Waal curated an exhibition of acclaimed Danish ceramicist, Axel Salto (1889–1961), considered one of the greatest masters of twentieth-century ceramic art.


The exhibition was the result of a collaboration between Edmund de Waal, CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark and Kunstsilo in Norway. Starting at CLAY in Middelfart, Denmark, it will tour to the Kunstsilo in September 2024 before its final stop at The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in 2025.

This exhibition brought together a significant number of Salto’s ceramic works from the CLAY Museum and The Tangen Collection at Kunstsilo, the world’s largest collection of Nordic modernist art. Salto’s ceramics were shown alongside his lesser-known and unseen works on paper, illustrations, writings and textiles, and a major new installation by de Waal which reflects on Salto’s enduring influence.

“Axel Salto is one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century. He created a unique body of ceramic work that continues to fascinate me. His sculptures seem to be on the point of change: glazes are caught in flux. Vases swell as if to burst. He cared about the ways that patterns change course, shift energies, how an animal becomes a person, a man metamorphoses into a stag. Ovid ran powerfully through his life. That moment of change, transformation, is the moment when poetry occurs.”

- Edmund de Waal

Photography: Ole Akhøj

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Exhibition

All About The Vessel

Kunstquartier Gmunden, Bad Ischl, Austria
4 May – 16 June 2024

Once is as good as never SF edit

Part of the European Capitals of Culture programme, All About The Vessel explored the development of ceramic art from early modernism to the present.

Part of the European Capitals of Culture programme, All About The Vessel explored the development of ceramic art from early modernism to the present.


Edmund de Waal's 2016 piece, once is as good as never, was exhibited alongside works by Lucie Rie, Betty Woodman, Sterling Ruby, Masaomi Yasunaga and Lindsey Mendick

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Exhibition

Essence

New Art Centre, Salisbury

Unnamed 1

Works by Edmund de Waal joined those by Barbara Hepworth, John Hubbard and Ian Stephenson in this exhibition at the New Art Centre at Roche Court Sculpture Park, Salisbury.

Works by Edmund de Waal joined those by Barbara Hepworth, John Hubbard and Ian Stephenson in this exhibition at the New Art Centre at Roche Court Sculpture Park, Salisbury.

Photo: courtesy of the New Art Centre

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Exhibition

IN MARGINE: Frame, Plinth, Vitrine

8smicka gallery, Humpolec, Czech Republic
23 February–19 May 2024

EDW Steles I front for web

stèles, I (2022) was recently on view at 8smicka, an art foundation in the Czech Republic, as part of an exhibition titled IN MARGINE. The show brought together numerous artists, past and present, who have reconceptualized the framework for art display.

stèles, I (2022) was recently on view at 8smicka, an art foundation in the Czech Republic, as part of an exhibition titled IN MARGINE. The show brought together numerous artists, past and present, who have reconceptualized the framework for art display.

From plinth and vitrine to the frame itself, the exhibition considered how artists have brought these elements into the whole artwork in new and surprising ways since the nineteenth century. Until 19 May 2024.

Photo: Alzbeta Jaresova

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Event

Edmund de Waal & Olivier Gabet

Institut Français du Royaume-Uni, London

7.30pm, 4 March 2024

Edmund de Waal Letters to Camondo Installation 009 crop

Edmund de Waal was in conversation with Olivier Gabet, director of the Département des objets d’art at the Musée du Louvre, and curator of de Waal’s exhibition Lettres à Camondo at the Musée Nissim de Camondo in 2021. Click the icon below to watch.

Edmund de Waal was in conversation with Olivier Gabet, director of the Département des objets d’art at the Musée du Louvre, and curator of de Waal’s exhibition Lettres à Camondo at the Musée Nissim de Camondo in 2021. Click the icon below to watch.

Photo: Christophe Dellière. © MAD, Paris. Courtesy of the artist and of Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.

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Exhibition

Rudolf Levy (1875 – 1944) Magician of Colour

Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern

28 August 2023–11 February 2024

Spur 01 2

In this major retrospective of the work of Rudolf Levy, co-organised by the MPK and the Uffizi, Levy's last self-portrait was juxtaposed with Edmund de Waal's 2016 piece, Spur.

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Event

Edmund de Waal / Javus Quartett

Konzerthaus, Vienna

7.30pm, 3 December 2023

Edmund De Waal Book Archive 517 WEB

In this special event at Vienna's Konzerthaus, Edmund de Waal read from his book Letters to Camondo, accompanied by the Javus Quartett.

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Exhibition

this must be the place

Gagosian, New York
13 September–28 October 2023

2023 NY541 DEWAA 023 for news

this must be the place, a major exhibition of de Waal's vitrines and stone benches, was installed at Gagosian's West 24th Street space.

this must be the place, a major exhibition of de Waal's vitrines and stone benches, was installed at Gagosian's West 24th Street space.

De Waal relates: “For the last two years my studio has been full of silver, steel, marble, and porcelain. This new body of work is about place—where things come from, where they belong, what we remember and pass on. The materials echo places. I use porcelain clay from Limoges but turn it black with oxides and inscribe it with remembered poetry. I use marble from Kilkenny and push folded sheets of silver into crevices like prayers into a wall. The work is full of fragments, scraps of silver on the rims of bowls, poems, music, echoes of people that matter to me and the places where they lived. These sculptures are new places.”

this must be the place was complemented by the presentation of to light, and then return— at Gagosian’s gallery at 976 Madison Avenue, New York, from September 14 to October 28, 2023. This exhibition featured sculptures by de Waal and platinum prints and tintypes by Sally Mann that each artist created in response to the other’s work.

Photography: Alzbeta Jaresova

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Exhibition

to light, and then return—

Gagosian, New York

14 September–28 October 2023

MANN 2022 Platinum Stone 22 CRP

An exhibition of new works by Edmund de Waal and Sally Mann, inspired by each other’s practices, was installed Gagosian's Madison Avenue space. to light, and then return— marked the first time the two artists have shown together in a dedicated exhibition.

An exhibition of new works by Edmund de Waal and Sally Mann, inspired by each other’s practices, was installed Gagosian's Madison Avenue space. to light, and then return— marked the first time the two artists have shown together in a dedicated exhibition.

The result of an ongoing exchange between two artists, who are also celebrated writers, the exhibition was titled after the final line of The spry arms of the wind (c. 1866), a poem written by Emily Dickinson on an envelope scrap. Informed by their mutual fascination with material transformation and themes of elegy and historical reckoning, the works on view included de Waal’s sculptural installations featuring porcelain and other materials, and Mann’s tintypes and platinum prints.

to light, and then return— was complemented by this must be the place, an exhibition of new works by de Waal at 541 West 24th Street, New York, from 13 September until 28 October 2023.

Photography:
De Waal's work: Alzbeta Jaresova
Mann's work: © Sally Mann, Photo: Rob McKeever, Courtesy Gagosian

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Interview

Interview with Phong H. Bui

The Brooklyn Rail

October 2023

Edmund de Waal Phong H Bui Brooklyn Rail

In October's issue of The Brooklyn Rail, Edmund de Waal and Phong H. Bui are in conversation and discussing poetry, repetition, scale, still life, and the making of the exhibition this must be the place at Gagosian, New York.

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Podcast

Pottery, Poetry, and the Act of Letting Go

Time Sensitive podcast

October 2023

T Ime Sensitive podcast

On this episode, of Time Sensitive from The Slowdown, Edmund de Waal talks with Spencer Bailey about his infatuation with Japan, his affinity for the life and work of the Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi, and the roles of rhythm and breath in his work.

On this episode, of Time Sensitive from The Slowdown, Edmund de Waal talks with Spencer Bailey about his infatuation with Japan, his affinity for the life and work of the Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi, and the roles of rhythm and breath in his work.

Image: courtesy of Time Sensitive podcast

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Limited edition

Artists Buttons

Kettle's Yard, Cambridge

Edmund de Waal Kettles Yard Buttons EDW buttons 9 08

In support of Kettle's Yard, Cambridge, Edmund de Waal, along with Ai Weiwei, Jonathan Anderson, Rana Begum, Antony Gormley, Callum Innes, Jennifer Lee, Cornelia Parker, Vicken Parsons and Caroline Walker, have created a limited edition sets of buttons.

In support of Kettle's Yard, Cambridge, Edmund de Waal, along with Ai Weiwei, Jonathan Anderson, Rana Begum, Antony Gormley, Callum Innes, Jennifer Lee, Cornelia Parker, Vicken Parsons and Caroline Walker, have created a limited edition sets of buttons.


The project draws inspiration from the exhibition, Lucie Rie: The Adventure of Pottery, recently at Kettle’s Yard and now on view until January 2024 at the Holburne Museum in Bath. In 1938, Lucie Rie fled her home in Vienna for London to escape the Nazi persecution of Jewish people. During the war, unable to get a licence to make pots, Rie turned to making ceramic buttons for the fashion industry, experimenting on a miniature scale with new forms and coloured glazes.

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Event

Modern pots: Lucie Rie and exile

The Holburne Museum, Bath

7.00pm, 26 October 2023

01 DEWAAL SPAN super Jumbo

In conjunction with the exhibition Lucie Rie: The Adventure of Pottery, Edmund de Waal gave a talk about Rie’s life in both Vienna and London, and her influence on his own work.

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Event

From somewhere else: libraries, stories, pots

Nottingham Castle

6.00pm, 24 October 2023

Ed W in his library 3 Ben Mc Kee

Edmund de Waal delivered the fourth City of Literature lecture as part of UNESCO's City of Literature programme.

Edmund de Waal delivered the fourth City of Literature lecture as part of UNESCO's City of Literature programme.

Photo: Ben McKee

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Award

Isamu Noguchi Award

Noguchi Museum, New York
September 2023

Isamu Noguchi Award Photo Eva Deitch for web

Edmund de Waal has been awarded the Isamu Noguchi Award for his contribution as both a writer and artist.

Edmund de Waal has been awarded the Isamu Noguchi Award for his contribution as both a writer and artist.

Established in 2014 and presented annually, the award perpetuates Noguchi’s legacy by acknowledging highly accomplished individuals who share his spirit of innovation, unbounded imagination, and uncompromising commitment to creativity. Honouring those whose work exhibits qualities of artistic excellence, the award also recognises work that carries significant social consciousness and function. De Waal received the award during the annual benefit gala at the Noguchi Museum, New York, on September 2023, along with artist, Theaster Gates, and novelist and editor Hanya Yanagihara.


Photo: Eva Deitch. © INFGM / ARS

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Radio programme

This Cultural Life

BBC Radio 4

9 September 2023

327 A2011 L

For BBC Radio 4's This Cultural Life, Edmund de Waal discussed with John Wilson the formative influences and inspirations behind his practice. Click the icon below to listen.

For BBC Radio 4's This Cultural Life, Edmund de Waal discussed with John Wilson the formative influences and inspirations behind his practice. Click the icon below to listen.

Photograph: Ben McKee

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Exhibition

Underneath Everything: Humility and Grandeur in Contemporary Ceramics

Des Moines Art Center, Iowa
3 June – 10 September 2023

To begin again D1 A4

De Waal's 2015 piece, to begin again, was part of an exhibition on contemporary ceramics at Des Moines Art Center, Iowa.

De Waal's 2015 piece, to begin again, was part of an exhibition on contemporary ceramics at Des Moines Art Center, Iowa.


This exhibition also featured artworks by Ai WeiWei, Katayoun Amjadi, Eliza Au, Sally Binard, Paul Briggs, Candice J. Davis, Theaster Gates, Donté K. Hayes, Simone Leigh, Ingrid Lilligren, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Anina Major, Heidi McKenzie, Magdalene A.N. Odundo, DBE, Vick Quezada, Ibrahim Said, Rae Stern, and Ehren Tool.

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Event

On Decay

Charleston Festival of the Garden, East Sussex
7.00pm, 14 July 2023

230208 Charleston 4 Plastiques Garden scaled

At the Charleston Festival of the Garden, Edmund de Waal was in conversation reflecting on the beauty and importance of decay

At the Charleston Festival of the Garden, Edmund de Waal was in conversation reflecting on the beauty and importance of decay


Every autumn, we witness decay on a grand scale as leaves fall and gardens die back for the winter, leaving only shapes and structures behind. But what value can be found in decay? In ‘Perdendosi’, his recent collaborative work with photographer Norman McBeath, de Waals’s text ‘Twelve Leaves’, sits alongside 12 photographs of leaves undergoing this transformation, becoming more like parchment than plant, taking up the most extraordinary shapes and revealing unique personalities. See decay with fresh eyes as we consider the beauty of the natural skeletons it leaves behind.

Photography: Lewis Ronald

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Interview

Wedgwood: A Very British Tragedy

BBC Radio 4

8.00pm, 5 June & 11.00am, 7 June 2023

Creamware Trials

In a new programme for BBC Radio 4, Edmund de Waal spoke to Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, about the life of Josiah Wedgwood, his genius and his legacy. First broadcast in June the full programme is now available to listen again on BBC Sounds.

In a new programme for BBC Radio 4, Edmund de Waal spoke to Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, about the life of Josiah Wedgwood, his genius and his legacy. First broadcast in June the full programme is now available to listen again on BBC Sounds.

Photograph: Tray of Queen's ware trials, by Josiah Wedgwood and sons, 1765, Stoke-on-Trent, England. Museum no. WE.4119-2014. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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Event

Borris House Festival of Writing and Ideas

Borris House, Co Carlow
16 – 18 June 2023

Edmund de Waal portrait by Tom Jamieson 4

Edmund de Waal will be at this year's Borris House Festival of Writing and Ideas, in conversation with Dorothy Cross and Phillippe Sands.

Edmund de Waal will be at this year's Borris House Festival of Writing and Ideas, in conversation with Dorothy Cross and Phillippe Sands.

Photography: Tom Jamieson

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Exhibition

ADORE: Garry Fabian Miller

Arnolfini, Bristol
18 February – 28 May 2023

Garry fabian miller poster mockup 02

In spring 2023, de Waal's installation, proem (2017), was on display at Arnolfini, Bristol, as part of ADORE - a major exhibition celebrating the work of photographer Garry Fabian Miller. Shown alongside Fabian Miller's inventive, 'camera-less' photographs, were the work of the artists, writers and thinkers who have inspired him over the years.

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Radio series

De Waal's Itinerant Pots

BBC Radio 3
10.45pm, 15–19 May 2023

Edmund de Waal Elective Affinites at The Frick Collection New York 05

For this re-airing of BBC Radio 3's series The Essay, de Waal read five essays on migration, pots, and potters, including Magdalene Odundo, Hans Coper and Josiah Wedgwood. Listen to the entire series via the link below.

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Exhibition

Edmund de Waal and Unseen Pieces from The Feuerle Collection

The Feuerle Collection, Berlin
17 September 2022 – 1 May 2023

Edmund de Waal Feurle Collection Berlin 4

This exhibition, the first temporary exhibition in The Feuerle Collection Silk Room, focused on a selection of recent works by de Waal, juxtaposed with unseen pieces from the collection.

This exhibition, the first temporary exhibition in The Feuerle Collection Silk Room, focused on a selection of recent works by de Waal, juxtaposed with unseen pieces from the collection.

Photography: The Feurle Collection / De Waal Studio

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Event

You Begin to Tell a Story: Objects, Restitution, Repair

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
7.00pm, 23 March 2023

Museum of Fine Arts Boston 12

In March, de Waal was invited to speak at MFA Boston as part of the Ruth and Carl Shapiro Lecture series. The talk focussed on his artistic process, storytelling and the poetry of sculpture.

In March, de Waal was invited to speak at MFA Boston as part of the Ruth and Carl Shapiro Lecture series. The talk focussed on his artistic process, storytelling and the poetry of sculpture.

Photography: Sintakso, CC BY-SA 4.0 <;, via Wikimedia Commons

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Event

Art/Lit Salon

London Library

6.45pm, 16 February 2023

JAMIESON Edmundde Waal31 SF edit for web

Edmund de Waal joined Celia Paul for an evening hosted by Katy Hessel at Art/Lit, The London Library’s regular salon event.

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Project

On the White Road

Limited edition plates
Collaboration with the V&A and Wedgwood

Vam edmund de waal march22 00015 Edmund de Waal

On the White Road is a limited-edition series of four fine bone china plates designed by Edmund de Waal, created in collaboration with the V&A and Wedgwood. The design for each plate is inspired by a different object in the V&A and the V&A Wedgwood Collection, reflecting the breadth of the museum's vast collection and its relationship with the iconic Wedgwood.

On the White Road is a limited-edition series of four fine bone china plates designed by Edmund de Waal, created in collaboration with the V&A and Wedgwood. The design for each plate is inspired by a different object in the V&A and the V&A Wedgwood Collection, reflecting the breadth of the museum's vast collection and its relationship with the iconic Wedgwood.

Each of the works chosen by de Waal to inform his designs marks a key moment in the history of porcelain. Expertly produced by Wedgwood in Stoke-on-Trent, with only 150 editions made, each plate bears de Waal's printed signature a gold emblem depicting alongside the piece from the collection that inspired the design. These beautifully finished decorative pieces come packaged in a bespoke V&A and V&A Wedgewood gift box, including a signed and numbered certificate of authenticity featuring original text written by de Waal and further information on each of the referenced objects from the V&A and V&A Wedgwood Collection.

Photography: Carlos Jiminez

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Publication

Perdendosi

Published September 2022

Edmund De Waal Book Archive 549 WEB

Perdendosi is a collaborative work by photographer Norman McBeath with Edmund de Waal. This publication which includes de Waal's text Twelve Leaves was published in September 2022.

Perdendosi is a collaborative work by photographer Norman McBeath with Edmund de Waal. This publication which includes de Waal's text Twelve Leaves was published in September 2022.

It is a study of leaves at the stage of their transformation when they have lost all colour, and become more like parchment than plant, taking up the most extraordinary shapes, giving the leaves unique identities and character. Many of the photographs were taken at the start of the pandemic in a time of daily news of increasing deaths and infections. Although not a direct response, this time had a profound influence on how Norman McBeath saw the leaves. Edmund de Waal’s accompanying text ‘Twelve Leaves’, which he describes as both autobiography and a journal of reading, is his own unique and moving response to living with these images for several months during lockdown. With a heightened awareness and increased sensitivity towards the natural world, ​Perdendosi offers a fresh perspective on the familiar.


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Exhibition

de Waal +

Burlington Arcade, London

8 November – 23 December 2022

2022 BURLINGTON DEWAA EXTERIOR CENTER

Edmund de Waal took over the Gagosian Shop in London’s historic Burlington Arcade with de Waal +, which brought together recent artworks, treasured objects, and a selection of books curated by the artist.

Edmund de Waal took over the Gagosian Shop in London’s historic Burlington Arcade with de Waal +, which brought together recent artworks, treasured objects, and a selection of books curated by the artist.

“I’ve always wanted to take over a bookshop,” de Waal remarks. “I’ve filled it with books, of course. And music and photography, pamphlets recording projects created over the last decade, writing on artists I adore and poetry that sustains me, collaborations with dancers and composers, editions I have made for the British Art Medal Society and for the Victoria & Albert Museum. And I’ve added some pots that I have just made.”

In his interlinked sculptural, writing, and research practices, de Waal studies and utilizes objects as vehicles for human emotion and history. His installations of handmade porcelain vessels, often contained in minimalist structures, investigate themes of diaspora, memory, and materiality.

In addition to working across mediums, de Waal has also collaborated with museums, poets, performers, musicians, and other artists. Offering viewers a glimpse of his varied interests and inspirations, de Waal says, “I hope you come and find a corner to sit and read.”

The shop was open Tuesdays–Saturdays from 10am–6pm, no booking necessary.

Photography: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd. Courtesy Gagosian.

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Event

The Travel Session

Jaipur Literary Festival

4.00pm, 19 January 2023

Edmund 50 Eamon Mc Cabe

Edmund de Waal, Anna Della Subin and Anthony Sattin in conversation with William Dalrymple at the Jaipur Literary Festival 2023.

Edmund de Waal, Anna Della Subin and Anthony Sattin in conversation with William Dalrymple at the Jaipur Literary Festival 2023.

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Exhibition

Sensational Books

Bodleian Library, Oxford

27 May – 4 December 2022

IVORYPRESS EDMUND DE WALL DUKE HUMFREY S LIBRARY OXFORD 22 NOVIEMBRE 2022 G1 A9499 HDR Editar for web

Sensational Books explored our experiences of the book beyond reading. Held in the Bodleian's oldest reading room, the exhibition included de Waal's artist book, breath, published by Ivorypress in 2019.

Sensational Books explored our experiences of the book beyond reading. Held in the Bodleian's oldest reading room, the exhibition included de Waal's artist book, breath, published by Ivorypress in 2019.

breath is a book of poems by Paul Celan, both in German and in translation by Pierre Joris, printed on three different papers, washed with porcelain slip, rewritten and held together. The vellum-bound volume has fragments of medieval manuscript in its spine that had been used for other books before, a palimpsest - one reading overlapping with another.

Rub, stroke, chew, wear, sniff – Sensational Books structured around six senses of sight, sound, taste, smell, touch and proprioception, the sense of self-movement and body-perception, to unlock a world of sensory engagement with books.

Installation photos: Pablo Gómez-Ogando

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Event

In conversation with Aanchal Malhotra

Jaipur Literary Festival
12.00pm, 21 January 2023

Edmund de Waal portrait by Tom Jamieson 4

Edmund de Waal joined Aanchal Malhotra in conversation at the Jaipur Literary Festival to discuss both The Hare with Amber Eyes and Letters to Camondo.

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Exhibition

Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art

Hayward Gallery, London

26 October 2022 – 8 January 2023

Edmund de Waal atmosphere at Hayward Gallery London

Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art was the first large-scale group exhibition in the UK exploring how contemporary artists have used clay in unexpected ways. The exhibition included de Waal's installation atmosphere.

Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art was the first large-scale group exhibition in the UK exploring how contemporary artists have used clay in unexpected ways. The exhibition included de Waal's installation atmosphere.

Photography: Mark Blower, Jemima Johnson

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Event

On Memoir

Jaipur Literary Festival

Ed W in his library 3 Ben Mc Kee

Edmund de Waal joined Andrew Logan and Ruth Ozeki in conversation with Kavita Puri on the subject of memoir at the Jaipur Literary Festival.

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Exhibition

Living With Art We Love

Chatsworth House, Derbyshire

26 March – 9 October 2022

Edmund de Waal 270 Chatsworth 2022 EXH

The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire present Living With Art We Love, an exhibition of a selection of favourite pieces from their collection.

The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire present Living With Art We Love, an exhibition of a selection of favourite pieces from their collection.

Contemporary artworks by Michael Craig Martin, Edmund de Waal, Natasha Daintry and Felicity Aylieff – artists actively collected and commissioned by the Duke and Duchess – are displayed alongside historic art from the Devonshire Collections rarely seen in public, including major works by Poussin, Rembrandt and Boltraffio.

Photography: Freddy Griffiths.



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Event

Beyond Vessels: Magdalene Odundo & Edmund de Waal

Royal Festival Hall, London
7.00pm, 16 November 2022

Atmosphere margate Edmund de Waal

Magdalene Odundo and Edmund de Waal, both of whom appeared in Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art, discuss clay’s intricacies as a medium.

Magdalene Odundo and Edmund de Waal, both of whom appeared in Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art, discuss clay’s intricacies as a medium.

De Waal's 2014 installation, atmosphere, shown here installed at Turner Contemporary, Margate, was part of the exhibition.

Photography: Mike Bruce.

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Exhibition

we live here, forever taking leave

Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire

15 June – 23 October 2022

1j7a5112 Edmund de Waal at Waddesdon

This exhibition brought together a curated selection of new and striking pieces. The installations explored the interconnected relations between faith, history, displacement, learning and archives – themes which feel more relevant than ever and which are woven into Waddesdon’s own fabric and existence.

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Event

Perdendosi: Norman McBeath, Edmund de Waal & Alexandra Harris

London Review Bookshop
7.00pm, 29 September 2022

Edmund De Waal Book Archive 551 WEB

Photographer Norman McBeath and de Waal was in conversation with Alexandra Harris, Professor of English at Birmingham University and author, discussing their collaboration on Perdendosi at the London Review Bookshop.

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Event

In conversation with Tristram Hunt

V&A South Kensington
7.00pm, 26 September 2022

Photograph: Tom Jamieson

Join Edmund de Waal and V&A Director Tristram Hunt for a discussion of his inspirations and practice, and their shared love for ceramics, including an exploration of the remarkable connection between Josiah Wedgwood, porcelain, and the hunt for the great white clay.

Join Edmund de Waal and V&A Director Tristram Hunt for a discussion of his inspirations and practice, and their shared love for ceramics, including an exploration of the remarkable connection between Josiah Wedgwood, porcelain, and the hunt for the great white clay.

The talk is in celebration of de Waal’s collaboration with the V&A and Wedgwood: On the White Road, a limited-edition series bone china plates inspired by objects from the V&A and V&A Wedgwood Collection.

Photograph: Tom Jamieson

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Event

Yugen Dutch Premier

Dutch National Opera & Ballet
13 – 28 September 2022

7 Edmund de Waal Wayne Mc Gregor Ballet Yugen Photographed by Andrej Uspenski

The Dutch National Ballet presents Shadows, a series of ballets about war, power and hope. Part of the programme will be the Dutch premier of Yugen, the ballet by Wayne McGregor for which de Waal designed the set in 2017.

The Dutch National Ballet presents Shadows, a series of ballets about war, power and hope. Part of the programme will be the Dutch premier of Yugen, the ballet by Wayne McGregor for which de Waal designed the set in 2017.

Photography: Andrej Uspenski

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Exhibition

Eternally Yours

Somerset House, London
16 June – 25 September

Edmund de Waal Library of Exile Dresden Helen Binet 6

Three Meissen plates, with kintsugi repairs, which were first shown in the Dresden incarnation of the Library of Exile are currently on display as part of Eternally Yours, an exhibition at Somerset House, London, exploring ideas around care, repair and healing.

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Exhibition

that other world, the world of the teapot. tenderness, a model

Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover

25 June – 25 September 2022

Asche 01 A

This group exhibition brings together works by Edmund de Waal, Käthe Kollwitz, Alice Neel, Cerith Wyn Evans and many more.

This group exhibition brings together works by Edmund de Waal, Käthe Kollwitz, Alice Neel, Cerith Wyn Evans and many more.

that other world, the world of the teapot, is the world the writer and the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature Laureate Olga Tokarczuk is longing for. In her Nobel Lecture, the author recalls Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of a teapot, broken by the people's awkwardness and their carelessness, and immediately disposed of and rejected.

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Event

An evening with Edmund de Waal

Hatchards, London
13 July 2022

Edmund de Waal Letters to Camondo Gallery 6

At Hatchards, Piccadilly, to celebrate the paperback publication of his book Letters to Camondo, de Waal discussed his exploration of the Camondos’ lavish rooms and detailed archives which led him to write this haunting series of letters to the Count, reflecting on the events that so scarred 20th-century Europe.

At Hatchards, Piccadilly, to celebrate the paperback publication of his book Letters to Camondo, de Waal discussed his exploration of the Camondos’ lavish rooms and detailed archives which led him to write this haunting series of letters to the Count, reflecting on the events that so scarred 20th-century Europe.

Photograph: Room of Nissim de Camondo. Paris, Musée Nissim de Camondo. © MAD, Paris / Jean-Marie del Moral

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Publication

Letters to Camondo

Published June 2022

Edmund De Waal Book Archive 532 WEB

The paperback edition of Letters to Camondo was published on 2 June 2022 by Vintage Publishing. To celebrate the publication, there was a special feature exploring the book on bookshop.org. Please click below to find out more.

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Event

Ballet des Porcelaines

Waddeston Manor, Aylesbury

16 – 17 June 2022

Cast of the Ballet des Porcelaines at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy Villa Albertines headquarters at the Payne Whitney Mansion in New York City 2100x1313 2

For two nights only, see Ballet des Porcelaines, a lost 18th-century ballet, performed in the fairy-tale grounds of Waddesdon before exploring the Manor and the new exhibition by Edmund de Waal after-hours.

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Event

In conversation with Chad Coerver

Online
7.00pm, 19 June 2022

Chad Coever

Edmund de Waal was in conversation with Chad Coerver, executive director of the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco for the Jewish Learning Works Marsha Rivkind Raleigh Memorial Lecture.

Edmund de Waal was in conversation with Chad Coerver, executive director of the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco for the Jewish Learning Works Marsha Rivkind Raleigh Memorial Lecture.

Photo: Slide from the lecture

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Event

In conversation with Katy Hessel

Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye

1.00pm, 3 June 2022

JAMIESON Edmundde Waal31 SF edit for web

At this year's Hay Festival, Edmund de Waal joined art historian, curator and broadcaster Katy Hessel to discuss Letters to Camondo. Click the link below for a recording via the Hay Player (subscription required).

At this year's Hay Festival, Edmund de Waal joined art historian, curator and broadcaster Katy Hessel to discuss Letters to Camondo. Click the link below for a recording via the Hay Player (subscription required).

Photo: Tom Jamieson

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Event

In conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist

Norman Foster Foundation
25 May 2022

EDW and HUO

Memory and archives are the main concepts of this conversation. In it, Edmund de Waal and Hans Ulrich Obrist converse, highlighting their work as artists and writers in relation to the above concepts.

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Exhibition

Lettres à Camondo

Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris
7 October 2021 – 15 May 2022

Edmund de Waal Letters to Camondo Installation 002 crop

Following the publication of Lettres à Camondo, the Musée Nissim de Camondo exhibited new installations by de Waal made especially for its rooms and collections. The museum has remained unaltered since 1936 and this was the first invitation of its kind to a living artist.

Following the publication of Lettres à Camondo, the Musée Nissim de Camondo exhibited new installations by de Waal made especially for its rooms and collections. The museum has remained unaltered since 1936 and this was the first invitation of its kind to a living artist.


Photo: Christophe Dellière. © MAD, Paris. Courtesy of the artist and MAD, Paris.

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Exhibition

The Hare with Amber Eyes exhibition

The Jewish Museum, New York
19 November 2021 – 15 May 2022

Hare with Amber Eyes 3032 Press Image 3000px W 300dpi

A major exhibition based on de Waal's celebrated family memoir took place at The Jewish Museum in New York. Designed by award-winning architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, this immersive exhibition brought together pieces from the Ephrussi’s collections from across the world to examine the ways in which objects can function as storytellers, symbols of resilience, and monuments of a family legacy.

A major exhibition based on de Waal's celebrated family memoir took place at The Jewish Museum in New York. Designed by award-winning architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, this immersive exhibition brought together pieces from the Ephrussi’s collections from across the world to examine the ways in which objects can function as storytellers, symbols of resilience, and monuments of a family legacy.

The centrepiece was the extraordinary collection of Japanese netsuke, hidden by a maid who concealed them from German officials in her mattress, and later returned them to the family after the war. The collection has since been handed down to subsequent generations, serving as a connection between the past and the present.

Photography: Iwan Baan

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Exhibition

their bright traces

Gana Art Centre & Nineone, Seoul

9 March – 3 April 2022

Edmund de Waal their bright traces

Edmund de Waal's first solo exhibition in Korea takes place this Spring, and brings together works from 2013 to the present day.

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Event

‘These are fragments shored against the ruins’; clay, stories, shards.

Online

6 May 2022

Ateneo Veneto Library of Exile 012

In this short, illustrated talk as part of the Bernard Leach Conference, Edmund de Waal will look at projects dealing with memory and restitution including his library of exile and exhibitions in Vienna, Paris and New York.

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Event

James L. Weinberg Distinguished Lecture

The Jewish Museum, New York

7 April 2022

James L Weinberg Distinguished Lecture

For the James L. Weinberg Distinguished Lecture at the Jewish Museum, New York, Edmund de Waal was in conversation with author and journalise Sandee Brawarsky.

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Event

Felicity Bryan Tribute Conversation

Oxford Literary Festival

6.00pm, 29 March 2022

Edmund 50 Eamon Mc Cabe

Edmund de Waal launches a new annual talk in memory of the Oxford literary agent Felicity Bryan by discussing his friendship with her alongside his new book Letters to Camondo.

Edmund de Waal launches a new annual talk in memory of the Oxford literary agent Felicity Bryan by discussing his friendship with her alongside his new book Letters to Camondo.

Photo: Eamonn McCabe

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Exhibition

The Fourth Dimension

Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, Japan

18 January – 27 March 2022

Things exactly as they are 2016 detail

De Waal's 2016 piece things exactly as they are is included in the exhibition The Fourth Dimension at The Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, in conjunction with the Mashiko Museum Residency Program. The exhibition examines the way the shape of vessel is expressed in works by 33 artists both from Japan and further afield.

De Waal's 2016 piece things exactly as they are is included in the exhibition The Fourth Dimension at The Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, in conjunction with the Mashiko Museum Residency Program. The exhibition examines the way the shape of vessel is expressed in works by 33 artists both from Japan and further afield.

Photo: things exactly as they are, 2016 (detail). Photo by Mike Bruce.

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Event

The Hare with Amber Eyes: Viennese Jewish Families and how they are remembered

Online

7.00pm, 9 February 2022

Hare with Amber Eyes 3032 Press Image 3000px W 300dpi

A conversation with Edmund de Waal and E. Randol Schoenberg, Jewish genealogist and the well-known attorney who recovered the Klimt paintings from Austria. This event is part of the JewishGen series, run in conjunction with The Jewish Museum, New York and the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York.

A conversation with Edmund de Waal and E. Randol Schoenberg, Jewish genealogist and the well-known attorney who recovered the Klimt paintings from Austria. This event is part of the JewishGen series, run in conjunction with The Jewish Museum, New York and the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York.

Photography: Iwan Baan

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Project

Eine STADT. Ein BUCH. 2021

11 November 2021, Vienna

Edmund De Waal Book Archive 527 WEB

This November, 100,000 copies of Der Hase mit den Bernsteinaugen, the German edition of de Waal's family memoir, will be given away across Vienna. Eine STADT. Ein BUCH (One City. One Book), an initiative which began in 2002, takes place in Vienna every year, where one book is selected, printed and distributed for free across the city. Previous years have included titles by Imre Kertesz, Toni Morrison, Maria Vargas Llosa and Michael Ondaatje.

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Podcast

In conversation with André Aciman

Always Authors podcast
22 March 2022

Always Authors

In an episode for Always Authors, a new podcast featuring candid conversations between two authors, Edmund de Waal joins the acclaimed writer André Aciman in conversation about their work, lives, and favourite books.

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Event

Good for a single journey

King's Place, London

6.00pm, 6 March 2022

Jewish Book Week

To mark the 70th anniversary of Jewish Book Week, Edmund de Waal will deliver the keynote address on the final day of Jewish Book Week.

To mark the 70th anniversary of Jewish Book Week, Edmund de Waal will deliver the keynote address on the final day of Jewish Book Week.

Photo: Kings Place

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Exhibition

Norman McBeath and Edmund de Waal: Perdendosi

The Fine Art Society, Edinburgh

14 January – 25 February 2022

Edmund de Waal and Norman Mc Beath

Perdendosi is a limited edition set of twelve hand-printed original black and white photographs by Norman McBeath together with a direct and personal response to the photographs by Edmund de Waal, on display from 14 January at the Fine Art Society, Edinburgh.

Perdendosi is a limited edition set of twelve hand-printed original black and white photographs by Norman McBeath together with a direct and personal response to the photographs by Edmund de Waal, on display from 14 January at the Fine Art Society, Edinburgh.

Photography: Norman McBeath

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Event

On Rilke for the London Review of Books

Online

7.00pm, 23 February 2022

Lrb

As part of London Review of Books’ That Year Again series, Ange Mlinko, Don Paterson and Edmund de Waal discuss Rilke’s ‘savage creative storm’.

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Publication

Letters to Camondo

Now published in France, UK, USA, Netherlands, Germany and Italy.

Edmund de Waal Letters from Camondo

De Waal's latest book, Letters to Camondo, is a haunting sequence of imagined letters to the Count de Camondo – the owner of a Parisian palace filled with beautiful objects, turned into a memorial for his lost son.

De Waal's latest book, Letters to Camondo, is a haunting sequence of imagined letters to the Count de Camondo – the owner of a Parisian palace filled with beautiful objects, turned into a memorial for his lost son.


Count Moïse de Camondo was a Jewish collector and philanthropist who lived on the famous rue de Monceau in Paris, at the same time as the Ephrussi family (the forebears of Edmund de Waal, who famously appeared in The Hare with Amber Eyes). Like the Ephrussi, Count Camondo and his family were part of Belle Époque Parisian high society. They were also targets of anti-semitism.

Moïse de Camondo created a spectacular house, modelled on the Petit Trianon, and filled it with the greatest private collection of French eighteenth century art for his son Nissim to inherit. But when Nissim was killed in the First World War, it became a memorial – with the instruction that nothing be changed – and was bequeathed by Moïse on his death in 1935 to the French state.

The Musée Nissim de Camondo has remained unaltered since 1936. Over the past year, Edmund de Waal has had the run of the beautiful palace overlooking the park; its objects and its archives. Here, he reflects on the Count's story — on one hand a close-knit family, with a love of horse-riding, good food and fine furniture. On the other, a journey from Constantinople and the work of two generations to assimilate to Frenchness, before all that has been made is torn away.

The Count didn't live to see the horrific betrayal to come — with characteristic delicacy and care, de Waal informs him, and the reader, of what happened next, and what it might mean to create a memorial.

Click the below link to order a copy and view de Waal's list of five books that influenced the letters on bookshop.org

Photography: Edward Park

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Exhibition

Imago Mundi

Centro de Iniciativas Culturales, University of Seville, Spain
10 November 2021 – 25 February 2022

Breath artists book

De Waal's artist's book breath featured in this exhibition organised by the University of Seville in conjunction with Ivorypress. An atlas folio bound in vellum, breath holds poems by Paul Celan, both in German and in translation by Pierre Joris, printed on three different papers, washed with porcelain slip, erased and rewritten by hand.

De Waal's artist's book breath featured in this exhibition organised by the University of Seville in conjunction with Ivorypress. An atlas folio bound in vellum, breath holds poems by Paul Celan, both in German and in translation by Pierre Joris, printed on three different papers, washed with porcelain slip, erased and rewritten by hand.

Photography: © Pablo Gómez-Ogando, courtesy Ivorypress

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Exhibition

The Flames: The Age of Ceramics

Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris
15 October 2021 – 6 February 2022

Once is as good as never SF edit

Gathering over 350 pieces dating from the Neolithic to the present day, the exhibition The Flames: The Age of Ceramics is an immersive exploration of the medium, a fresh, fruitful dialogue between objects from different periods and contexts that brings to light influences as well as coincidences. De Waal's 2016 piece, once is as good as never, is featured in the exhibition.

Gathering over 350 pieces dating from the Neolithic to the present day, the exhibition The Flames: The Age of Ceramics is an immersive exploration of the medium, a fresh, fruitful dialogue between objects from different periods and contexts that brings to light influences as well as coincidences. De Waal's 2016 piece, once is as good as never, is featured in the exhibition.

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Event

Eine Familiengeschichte in Briefen

MAK, Vienna
7.00pm, 10 November 2021

EDW Letters to Camondo German open

Edmund de Waal discusses his book Letters to Camondo in this event at MAK Vienna, introduced by journalist and author Wolfgang Popp.

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Event

A right understanding

The National Gallery, London
7.00pm, 5 November 2021

Edmund 50 Eamon Mc Cabe

Edmund de Waal will give this year's Ruskin To-Day Brantwood Annual Lecture celebrating the life, work and legacy of John Ruskin. For this lecture, de Waal examines Ruskin's legacy of thinking on technology, materiality, consumption and value. De Waal will also reflect on how Ruskin has influenced his own artistic practice.

Edmund de Waal will give this year's Ruskin To-Day Brantwood Annual Lecture celebrating the life, work and legacy of John Ruskin. For this lecture, de Waal examines Ruskin's legacy of thinking on technology, materiality, consumption and value. De Waal will also reflect on how Ruskin has influenced his own artistic practice.

Photo: Eamon McCabe

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Event

The Lure of Objects

Online
7.00pm, 9 November 2021

Edmund de Waal shards0742 number2

As part of the Charleston Literary Festival, Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria & Albert Museum and author of The Radical Potter: The Life and Times of Josiah Wedgwood, and Edmund de Waal explore their obsessions with ceramics and objects and how that has led to journeys into porcelain, abolitionism and the holocaust.

As part of the Charleston Literary Festival, Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria & Albert Museum and author of The Radical Potter: The Life and Times of Josiah Wedgwood, and Edmund de Waal explore their obsessions with ceramics and objects and how that has led to journeys into porcelain, abolitionism and the holocaust.

Photo: Ben McKee

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Event

The Collectors

Kings Place Hall, London & Online

7.00pm, 31 August 2021

Edmund de Waal Letters to Camondo Gallery 2

As part of Jewish Book Week, Edmund de Waal will be in conversation Washington Post Paris Correspondent James Mcauley, chaired by Anne Sebba.

As part of Jewish Book Week, Edmund de Waal will be in conversation Washington Post Paris Correspondent James Mcauley, chaired by Anne Sebba.

Photography: Porte Cochère of the Musée Nissim de Camondo, 63, rue de Monceau, circa 2007. © MAD, Paris / Jean-Marie del Moral

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Event

Conversations with the past

FT Weekend Festival, Kenwood House, London
11.00am, 4 September 2021

Edmund de Waal Letters to Camondo UK Edition

On the Financial Times Weekend Festival Arts Stage, Edmund de Waal talks to FT Arts Editor, Jan Dalley about Letters to Camondo, and about placing his contemporary work in dialogue with another era.

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Event

Objects of Desire

Baillie Gifford Theatre, Edinburgh Book Festival

7.00pm, 19 August 2021

Ed W in his library Ben Mc Kee

In this event, de Waal unpacks his deep fascination with the objects in the Musée de Camondo and what they reveal about his own personal and cultural history – with Lennie Goodings, author of A Bite of the Apple: A Life with Books, Writers and Virago.

In this event, de Waal unpacks his deep fascination with the objects in the Musée de Camondo and what they reveal about his own personal and cultural history – with Lennie Goodings, author of A Bite of the Apple: A Life with Books, Writers and Virago.

Photography: Ben McKee

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Project

Maggie's Centre, Southampton

Open from 13 July 2021

Maggies

For the new Maggie’s Cancer Support Centre at Southampton, de Waal has created a poetry library and a series of oak panel works inscribed with three poems written into porcelain slip.

For the new Maggie’s Cancer Support Centre at Southampton, de Waal has created a poetry library and a series of oak panel works inscribed with three poems written into porcelain slip.

Selected with his daughter, Anna, the books were generously donated by Chatto Books and the works directly from the artist. Designed by Amanda Levete and her team at AL_A in close relationship with landscaper, Sarah Price, the centre opened in July 2021.

Photography: Sandy Nairne, Alzbeta Jaresova

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Exhibition

Masterpieces in Miniature

Pallant House Gallery, Chichester

26 June 2021 – Spring 2022

Pallant House Masterpieces in Miniature High Res 7

Bringing together miniature artworks from over 80 artists, this exhibition at Pallant House includes works by Augustus John, Vanessa Bell, Paul Nash, Sir Peter Blake and Richard Hamilton as well as new pieces by Rachel Whiteread, Damien Hirst, John Akomfrah, Tacita Dean and Lubaina Himid.

Bringing together miniature artworks from over 80 artists, this exhibition at Pallant House includes works by Augustus John, Vanessa Bell, Paul Nash, Sir Peter Blake and Richard Hamilton as well as new pieces by Rachel Whiteread, Damien Hirst, John Akomfrah, Tacita Dean and Lubaina Himid.


De Waal has contributed a miniature pot entitled and show and end, the title of which is taken from Emily Dickinson's poem about tiny and huge things.

Photography: Rob Harris

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Event

Jewish Art Collectors and The Fall of France

Online
2.00pm, 6 June 2021

Edmund de Waal Letters to Camondo Gallery 6

Join James McAuley and Edmund de Waal as they discuss this powerful history of Jewish art collectors in France, and how an embrace of art and beauty was met with hatred and destruction.

Join James McAuley and Edmund de Waal as they discuss this powerful history of Jewish art collectors in France, and how an embrace of art and beauty was met with hatred and destruction.

Photo: Room of Nissim de Camondo. Paris, Musée Nissim de Camondo. © MAD, Paris / Jean-Marie del Moral

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Exhibition

sukkah

Canterbury Cathedral

Passover and Holy Week 2021

EDW Canterbury press 3

sukkah (2019), originally created for a synagogue in the Venetian Ghetto as part of de Waal's installation psalm, is currently on loan to Canterbury Cathedral.

sukkah (2019), originally created for a synagogue in the Venetian Ghetto as part of de Waal's installation psalm, is currently on loan to Canterbury Cathedral.


The work has been installed in St Gabriel’s Chapel, in the Crypt of the Cathedral, a place famed for its striking early twelfth-century frescoes and Romanesque carvings of animals playing musical instruments.

“It is a great privilege to bring this work to a place that I have known and loved since childhood. Sukkah will have moved from the highest space of the Venetian Jewish Ghetto to deep within the oldest parts of Canterbury Cathedral. Both these spaces contain imagery of celebration and it feels appropriate to be announcing this on the eve of the two great festivals of Passover and Easter. I hope its resonance of vulnerability and protection, contemplation and prayer will be manifest here.”
- Edmund de Waal

The work, sukkah, was originally conceived for the Sukkah in the Canton Scuola synagogue in the Jewish Ghetto in Venice for the 2019 Venice Biennale. Sukkot, the Feast of the Tabernacles, is the festival that commemorates the forty years of wandering in the desert. The work is comprised of nine towers which appear to float above the table, each containing tall white porcelain vessels and leaning pieces of gilded steel that catch the light from the medieval stained-glass windows.

“We feel privileged and deeply moved to have Edmund’s work sukkah standing in St Gabriel’s Chapel in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral at this significant time of year for both Jewish and Christian communities. It is a work which reminds us of the fragility not only of human life, but also of the shelters we construct during our human journeys. The light which shines through the ancient stained glass changes hour by hour and day by day, and the sense of ‘reflection’ becomes not only real as one observes its effect on the installation, but also an aspect of our mental and spiritual ability to reflect on our human condition and its capacity to journey beyond the seeming limitations we experience. It also becomes an invitation to journey on together in faith and hope for the future. Sukkah will enrich the Cathedral’s life in Holy Week and Easter by its presence among us.”
- The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury

Photography: Alzbeta Jaresova

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Exhibition

stone for two hands and water

Henry Moore Foundation Gardens

From 31 March 2021

Edmund de Waal a stone for two hands and water

As part of This Living Hand, the exhibition at the Henry Moore Foundation, Edmund de Waal has made a ’tsukubai’ - a hand-washing basin traditional to Japanese Zen gardens.

As part of This Living Hand, the exhibition at the Henry Moore Foundation, Edmund de Waal has made a ’tsukubai’ - a hand-washing basin traditional to Japanese Zen gardens.

In de Waal's words "I have made a place to pause, just outside the gallery, with water running over stone where you can wash your hands. It is a sculpture recollecting the stone basins in Japanese gardens. I’ve called it stone for two hands and water."

The exhibition opened on Weds 19 May 2021, in line with government guidelines. The gardens reopened to the public on 31 March.

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Exhibition

This Living Hand

Henry Moore Studios & Gardens, Perry Green
19 May – 31 October 2021

41 Lh 707 Hands

After a year in lockdown, a new exhibition of Henry Moore's work, curated by de Waal for the Henry Moore Studios & Gardens, opened to the public. Located at the artist's former home in Hertfordshire, This Living Hand explores the role of touch and the iconography of the hand in Moore’s art.

After a year in lockdown, a new exhibition of Henry Moore's work, curated by de Waal for the Henry Moore Studios & Gardens, opened to the public. Located at the artist's former home in Hertfordshire, This Living Hand explores the role of touch and the iconography of the hand in Moore’s art.

The first exhibition of its kind, visitors are invited to touch a collection of Moore's work in bronze and stone, as well as a number of original carved benches, created by de Waal, from Hornton stone – one of Moore's favourite materials. Alongside these sculptural works, a room of drawings and prints chart Moore’s interest in the hand as a subject, from The Three Fates (1948) to the numerous studies of his own and other subjects’ hands, including those he made in 1978 of the Nobel Prize winner, Dorothy Hodgkin, who wanted her hands to be used as her portrait. Upstairs, de Waal has curated a wunderkammer of objects that Moore kept close by him at home, 'objects of sustenance and renewal'.

Moore believed that ‘tactile experience is very important as an aesthetic dimension in sculpture’. Throughout his career he repeatedly emphasised the importance of experiencing sculpture haptically, and often returned to the hand as a subject in his sculpture and drawings, studying its expressive power and symbolic values as Auguste Rodin and Michelangelo, two of his favourite artists, had done before him.

For de Waal, in This Living Hand, "we see a life of reflection on how hands become sculpture. We are returned to what knowledge our own hands hold.”

Image: Moore holding the plaster maquette for Reclining Figure: Hand 1976, (LH 707). Photo: Henry Moore Archive. Reproduced by permission of The Henry Moore Foundation

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Event

The Thinking Hand

Fitzwilliam Museum Online Talks

1.00pm, 30 June 2021

327 A2058

Edmund de Waal is in conversation with curator Richard Calvocoressi as part of the programme to accompany the exhibition The Human Touch at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. This pre-recorded talk explores the creativity of the artist’s hands and the marks and traces they leave. The talk is followed by a live Q&A session with the exhibition curators.

Edmund de Waal is in conversation with curator Richard Calvocoressi as part of the programme to accompany the exhibition The Human Touch at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. This pre-recorded talk explores the creativity of the artist’s hands and the marks and traces they leave. The talk is followed by a live Q&A session with the exhibition curators.

Photography: Ben McKee

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Interview

Displacement

BBC Radio 3
10.00pm, 16 June 2021

Ed W portrait 6 Ben Mc Kee

In Refugee Week, Anne McElvoy and her guests, Edmund de Waal, Frances Stonor Saunders, Fariha Shaikh and Jasleen Kaur, look at what it means to have to move your family and belongings.

In Refugee Week, Anne McElvoy and her guests, Edmund de Waal, Frances Stonor Saunders, Fariha Shaikh and Jasleen Kaur, look at what it means to have to move your family and belongings.

Photography: Ben McKee

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Event

In conversation with Adam Gopnik

Jewish Museum, New York: Online

6.30-7.30pm ET, 20 May 2021

Author Talk LTC WL22

Hosted by the Jewish Museum, New York, a conversation between Edmund de Waal and writer Adam Gopnik to celebrate the launch of Letters to Camondo.

Hosted by the Jewish Museum, New York, a conversation between Edmund de Waal and writer Adam Gopnik to celebrate the launch of Letters to Camondo.

Photography: Portrait of Adam Gopnik by Brigitte Lacombe; portrait of Edmund de Waal by Tom Jamieson

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Interview

In the Studio

BBC World Service
20 April 2021

Edmund de Waal at wheel4

In The Studio follows Edmund de Waal as he creates new site-specific work for the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris. Listen again here.

In The Studio follows Edmund de Waal as he creates new site-specific work for the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris. Listen again here.

Edmund de Waal guides us through his creative response to the haunting history of the Camondo family, the last of whom were killed at Auschwitz. Edwina Pitman follows him in his studio as he works on a multi-faceted installation for a unique setting, navigates the challenges of creating during lockdown and grapples with the notions of what it means to create a fitting memorial.

Photography: Ben McKee

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Event

After Vienna: Edmund de Waal and Tom Stoppard

Online
6.00pm, 2 May 2021

Screenshot 2021 04 30 at 10 33 27

For the London Library Lit Fest, Tom Stoppard and Edmund de Waal came together in conversation to discuss some of the themes and concerns they share in their work, including diaspora, displacement, art and libraries and the cultural particularity of pre-War Vienna.

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Event

Edmund de Waal at the How To Academy

Online

6.30pm, 26 April 2021

Edmund De Waal Book Archive 515 WEB

Edmund de Waal discussed his most recent book, Letters to Camondo, at this online event with the How To Academy.

Edmund de Waal discussed his most recent book, Letters to Camondo, at this online event with the How To Academy.

Photography: Edward Park

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Event

Talk for Independent Bookshops

Online

7.30pm, 6 May 2021

Edmund De Waal Book Archive 517 WEB

In this live streamed event, Edmund de Waal discusses Letters to Camondo with Village Books, Dulwich.

In this live streamed event, Edmund de Waal discusses Letters to Camondo with Village Books, Dulwich.

Photography: Edward Park

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Event

5 x 15 online Series

Online

7.00pm, 21 April 2021

Edmund De Waal Book Archive 512 WEB

An evening of art, science and deeply personal storytelling, with Edmund de Waal, Sam Lee, Horatio Clare, Suzanne O'Sullivan and Walter Isaacson.

An evening of art, science and deeply personal storytelling, with Edmund de Waal, Sam Lee, Horatio Clare, Suzanne O'Sullivan and Walter Isaacson.

Photography: Edward Park

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Event

Book launch at the V&A

7.00pm, 20 April 2021

EDMUND DE WAAL INVITE4

Edmund de Waal joins Olivier Gabet for an online conversation, chaired by Tristram Hunt, in celebration of the publication of Letters to Camondo.

Edmund de Waal joins Olivier Gabet for an online conversation, chaired by Tristram Hunt, in celebration of the publication of Letters to Camondo.

Image: Victoria & Albert Museum

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Event

In conversation with Glenn Adamson

Online
6.00pm, 1 March 2021

Portrait

In this talk, hosted by Crafts, de Waal discuss the meaning of craft today, its relationship to contemporary art, and his new book, Letters to Camondo, out in April, with the curator and critic Glenn Adamson, Crafts’ editor-at-large.

In this talk, hosted by Crafts, de Waal discuss the meaning of craft today, its relationship to contemporary art, and his new book, Letters to Camondo, out in April, with the curator and critic Glenn Adamson, Crafts’ editor-at-large.

Photography: Rob McKeever

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Event

A space to be

Online
6.00–7.30pm, 29 January 2021

Edmund de Waal British Museum library of exile 013

A musical celebration to mark the end of the installation of library of exile, before the books move to their permanent home in Mosul. Musician, composer and television presenter Soumik Datta presented an evening of performances inspired by the installation.

A musical celebration to mark the end of the installation of library of exile, before the books move to their permanent home in Mosul. Musician, composer and television presenter Soumik Datta presented an evening of performances inspired by the installation.

The event included readings from Edmund de Waal and other acclaimed guest writers who have participated in the programme of online discussions inspired by the library throughout 2020.

With the installation now closed to the public, the books within the library will travel to their final home in Iraq, at the University of Mosul, with the kind participation of Book Aid International.

This event was presented in collaboration with English PEN, Soumik Datta Arts and the United Nations Regional Information Centre.

The event was broadcast on the British Museum Events YouTube channel at 18.00 on Friday 29 January and included live captioning.

Photo: Hélène Binet

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Exhibition

some winter pots

Gagosian, London
3 December 2020 – 16 January 2021

EDW Gagosian unedited 2

This exhibition at Gagosian's Davies Street gallery brings together a group vessels made by Edmund de Waal during lockdown. This is the first time in sixteen years that de Waal has made single works that are not parts of installations. They are specifically designed to be touched and held in the hand.

This exhibition at Gagosian's Davies Street gallery brings together a group vessels made by Edmund de Waal during lockdown. This is the first time in sixteen years that de Waal has made single works that are not parts of installations. They are specifically designed to be touched and held in the hand.


De Waal comments, “I made these pots in lockdown during the spring and early summer. I was alone in my studio and silent and I needed to make vessels to touch and hold, to pass on. I needed to return to what I know—the bowl, the open dish, the lidded jar. When you pick them up you will find the places where I have marked and moved the soft clay. Some of these pots are broken and patched on their rims with folded lead and gold; others are mended with gold lacquer. Some hold shards of porcelain.

In the studio I had two old Chinese bowls from the Song dynasty. One was patched on the rim with iron. The other had a beautiful thin golden thread running from the rim, repaired using the Japanese art of kintsugi. Kintsugi is not an art of erasure—the invisible mend, the erasing of a mistake—but rather a way of marking loss. Both these bowls were central to the making of this work.

These black vessels show the flux of glaze. The white dishes have been fired without glaze so that each mark is present. They are bone clear. These are some pots for the hands, for this winter.”

The exhibition was installed so that it could also be seen from the street.

Photo: Alzbeta Jaresova

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Exhibition

tacet

New Art Centre, Wiltshire
21 September 2020 – 9 January 2021

Edmund de Waal tacet at New Art Centre 4

An exhibition of works in stone and alabaster by Edmund de Waal at the New Art Centre at Roche Court, Wiltshire.

An exhibition of works in stone and alabaster by Edmund de Waal at the New Art Centre at Roche Court, Wiltshire.

As de Waal's said in 2020: "In these last months, I realised how much I wanted to make things for people to touch. I hope they feel old, weathered, 'known and handled' to borrow David Jones' words. I've called them tacet. Silence, rest."

Click the play button below for a short film about the exhibition.

Photography: Alzbeta Jaresova

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Exhibition

cold mountain clay

Gagosian, Hong Kong

20 November 2020 – 9 January 2021


Cold mountain I DTL

This exhibition at Gagosian, Hong Kong, featured a new body of work inspired by the Chinese monk Hanshan’s practice of writing on rocks, tree trunks, and cave walls.

This exhibition at Gagosian, Hong Kong, featured a new body of work inspired by the Chinese monk Hanshan’s practice of writing on rocks, tree trunks, and cave walls.

De Waal’s new works are made through a cycle of inscription and effacement. He begins by coating a wood panel in liquid kaolin; while the slip is still wet, he floats flecks of gold leaf and writes lines of Hanshan’s poetry in graphite, oil stick, and charcoal. He then brushes these marks with additional layers of kaolin slip, repeating the process multiple times to produce a “fugitive poem,” an ethereal palimpsest of text that emulates the haze of memory.

Photography: Stephen Head

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Exhibition

library of exile

Room 2, British Museum, London
27 August 2020 - 12 January 2021

Edmund de Waal British Museum library of exile 007

A hymn to writers in exile — The Economist. From Venice, to Dresden and now London, Edmund de Waal’s library of exile makes its final stop at the British Museum.

A hymn to writers in exile — The Economist. From Venice, to Dresden and now London, Edmund de Waal’s library of exile makes its final stop at the British Museum.

A temporary pavilion, designed as a place of dialogue and contemplation, where visitors are encouraged to sit and read a collection of over 2,000 books by writers who have experienced exile from across the world. Almost all the books are translations, exploring the idea of language as migration. The library can also be explored via an online catalogue libraryofexile.com.

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Event

Tell Me About Europe

Online
6.00pm, 2 December 2020

Ed W in his library 3 Ben Mc Kee

For this Goethe-Institut event, Edmund de Waal joins Rosie Goldsmith, A.L. Kennedy, Baroness Mary Goudie, Niloo Shafari, and Sharmaine Lovegrove to consider Europe and reflect what they are feeling during this time, especially in the midst of the Covid 19 crisis which makes us feel boundaries and distances more acutely again.

For this Goethe-Institut event, Edmund de Waal joins Rosie Goldsmith, A.L. Kennedy, Baroness Mary Goudie, Niloo Shafari, and Sharmaine Lovegrove to consider Europe and reflect what they are feeling during this time, especially in the midst of the Covid 19 crisis which makes us feel boundaries and distances more acutely again.

Photo: Ben McKee

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Event

No frontiers: celebrating writing in translation

Online

5.30pm, 26 November 2020


Edmund de Waal British Museum library of exile 015

This panel discussion celebrates the role of translation in breaking down barriers. Chaired by Associate Editor (Culture) for the Guardian and English PEN Trustee, Claire Armitstead, it features Syrian translator and author of The Frightened Ones, Dima Wannous; Chinese-born British poet and author of Red Dust, Ma Jian; and his translator and interpreter, Flora Drew.

This panel discussion celebrates the role of translation in breaking down barriers. Chaired by Associate Editor (Culture) for the Guardian and English PEN Trustee, Claire Armitstead, it features Syrian translator and author of The Frightened Ones, Dima Wannous; Chinese-born British poet and author of Red Dust, Ma Jian; and his translator and interpreter, Flora Drew.


This is one of four thought-provoking events in a series exploring the themes inspired by the library of exile, presented in collaboration with its creator Edmund de Waal and English PEN

Photo: Hélène Binet

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Event

The importance of memory in exile

Online

5.30pm, 8 December 2020


Edmund de Waal British Museum library of exile 016

The discussion is chaired by English PEN President, Philippe Sands QC, and features contemporary artist and writer Edmund de Waal; Chilean novelist Alia Trabucco Zerán, whose debut novel La Resta (The Remainder) was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize; and British Palestinian fiction-writer Selma Dabbagh, whose first novel, Out of It, set between London, Gaza and the Gulf, was listed as a Guardian Book of the Year in 2011 and 2012.

The discussion is chaired by English PEN President, Philippe Sands QC, and features contemporary artist and writer Edmund de Waal; Chilean novelist Alia Trabucco Zerán, whose debut novel La Resta (The Remainder) was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize; and British Palestinian fiction-writer Selma Dabbagh, whose first novel, Out of It, set between London, Gaza and the Gulf, was listed as a Guardian Book of the Year in 2011 and 2012.


This is one of four thought-provoking events exploring the themes inspired by the library of exile, presented in collaboration with Edmund de Waal and human rights organisation English PEN

Photo: Hélène Binet

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Event

Burning the Books: Richard Ovenden and Edmund de Waal in conversation

Online

5.30pm, 15 December 2020


Edmund de Waal British Museum library of exile 006

Join Richard Ovenden, director of the world-famous Bodleian Libraries, as he discusses his new publication, Burning the Books, with Edmund de Waal.

Join Richard Ovenden, director of the world-famous Bodleian Libraries, as he discusses his new publication, Burning the Books, with Edmund de Waal.


Their conversation will explore the historic destruction of libraries and archives, many of the names of which are written into the walls of the library of exile.

As Ovenden explains, libraries are far more than stores of literature. Through preserving legal documents such as Magna Carta and records of citizenship, they also support the rule of law and the rights of citizens. Today, the knowledge they hold on behalf of society is under attack as never before.

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Event

Future exiles: climate change and migration

5.30pm, 29 October 2020

Online

Edmund De Waal Library Of Exile Dresden Helen Binet 2

This panel discussion explores the interconnected nature of climate change and migration and accompanies the current British Museum / Citi exhibition, Arctic: culture and climate and Edmund de Waal's library of exile installation.

This panel discussion explores the interconnected nature of climate change and migration and accompanies the current British Museum / Citi exhibition, Arctic: culture and climate and Edmund de Waal's library of exile installation.

Panellists include indigenous Arctic writer, spoken word poet and curator, Taqralik Partridge; Shaul Bassi, Director of the International Center for the Humanities and Social Change at Ca'Foscari University of Venice; and James Thornton, an environmental lawyer and writer. The New Statesman named Thornton as one of 10 people who could change the world.

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Project

library of exile catalogue

Online catalogue

Library of exile catalogue

After its time at the British Museum, the library of exile was dismantled and all the books donated to the University of Mosul's library collection, destroyed by Isis in 2015. The online catalogue, however, remains live. Explore and search the holdings by language, author, category or country.

After its time at the British Museum, the library of exile was dismantled and all the books donated to the University of Mosul's library collection, destroyed by Isis in 2015. The online catalogue, however, remains live. Explore and search the holdings by language, author, category or country.

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Audio

Hear Now

Whitechapel Gallery Podcast

Edmund de Waal at wheel2 Ben Mc Kee

Edmund de Waal joins Whitechapel Gallery director Iwona Blazwick to discuss the exhibition Kai Althoff goes with Bernard Leach, on view until 10 January 2021.

Edmund de Waal joins Whitechapel Gallery director Iwona Blazwick to discuss the exhibition Kai Althoff goes with Bernard Leach, on view until 10 January 2021.

Photography: Ben McKee

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Event

Writing Experiences of Migration and Exile

Online panel discussion
5.30pm, 7 September 2020

Edmund de Waal British Museum library of exile 005

A timely and urgent discussion exploring how literature can represent the experience of migration and exile, as part of Edmund de Waal’s library of exile at the British Museum.

A timely and urgent discussion exploring how literature can represent the experience of migration and exile, as part of Edmund de Waal’s library of exile at the British Museum.

Chaired by de Waal, it features Booker-shortlisted novelist and human rights activist Elif Shafak, EBRD Prize-winning writer and journalist Hamid Ismailov, and world-renowned journalist, broadcaster and writer Kavita Puri.

This is one of four thought-provoking events exploring the themes inspired by the library of exile, presented in collaboration with de Waal, English PEN, and the British Museum.

The installation and its accompanying public programme has been made possible with the support of the AKO Foundation.

Click the below link to view a recording of the discussion.

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Exhibition

The Ephrussis: Travel in Time

Jewish Museum, Vienna

6 November 2019–4 October 2020

Hare Netsuke C 1880

The Ephrussi Family Archive, donated to the Jewish Museum by the de Waal family, will go on display in this special exhibition along with 157 netsuke from Edmund de Waal's collection.

The Ephrussi Family Archive, donated to the Jewish Museum by the de Waal family, will go on display in this special exhibition along with 157 netsuke from Edmund de Waal's collection.

Photography: Michael Harvey

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Exhibition

Elective Affinities virtual tour

The Frick Collection, New York
Virtual tour

West Gallery view 02

This virtual tour documents Edmund de Waal's installation of site-specific sculptures which were displayed in The Frick Collections's main galleries alongside works from the permanent collection.

This virtual tour documents Edmund de Waal's installation of site-specific sculptures which were displayed in The Frick Collections's main galleries alongside works from the permanent collection.

Photography: Christopher Burke

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Interview

PEN Transmissions

21 May 2020

Edmund de Waal library of exile

Over the coming weeks, PEN Transmissions, in collaboration with the British Museum and Edmund de Waal, is publishing a series of essays on the theme of exile. This series speaks to de Waal’s library of exile, currently housed at the Museum. In this interview to introduce the series, de Waal speaks to Hannah Trevarthen (English PEN’s Events and Partnerships Manager) about the installation.

Over the coming weeks, PEN Transmissions, in collaboration with the British Museum and Edmund de Waal, is publishing a series of essays on the theme of exile. This series speaks to de Waal’s library of exile, currently housed at the Museum. In this interview to introduce the series, de Waal speaks to Hannah Trevarthen (English PEN’s Events and Partnerships Manager) about the installation.

Photography: Fulvio Orsenigo

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Interview

The Modern House Podcast

23 April 2020

Edmund De Waal Studi

In this episode of The Modern House Podcast, Matt Gibberd speaks to Edmund de Waal about his work, life and home, as well as his top three living spaces around the world.

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Event

Jaipur Literary Festival

In conversation with Aanchal Malhotra
4.30-5.00pm, 18 April 2020

Edmund de Waal British Museum library of exile 002

Edmund de Waal will be in conversation with Aanchal Malhotra, whose book Remnants of Partition is included in the library of exile. Watch online at Jaipur Literary Festival's website, link below.

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Exhibition

Duino Elegies

Gagosian, Madison Avenue, New York

5 March – 27 June 2020

Edmund De Waal Elegie At Gagosian Gallery New York

A new panel piece, titled elegie, has been made especially for a group show staged by Gagosian, now open in New York. The exhibition traces the resonance of Rainer Maria Rilke’s poetry through artworks spanning the past 150 years.

A new panel piece, titled elegie, has been made especially for a group show staged by Gagosian, now open in New York. The exhibition traces the resonance of Rainer Maria Rilke’s poetry through artworks spanning the past 150 years.

Rilke’s writing has been a constant touchstone for de Waal. This work is one of his first to use porcelain in liquid form, painted onto wood panel over gold leaf and written into with text.

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Event

Jewish Book Week

Kings Place, London

11.00am, 1 March 2019

Ed W in his library Ben Mc Kee

Edmund de Waal will be discussing the library of exile as part of Jewish Book Week in this special event.

Edmund de Waal will be discussing the library of exile as part of Jewish Book Week in this special event.

Photography: Ben McKee

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Album launch

A Quiet Corner in Time

Album release

10 February 2020

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A Quiet Corner in Time began as a sound work created by the composer Simon Fisher Turner for de Waal’s architectural intervention –one way or other– at the Schindler House, L.A., in 2018-19. It has since developed into a standalone album release with Mute Records.

A Quiet Corner in Time began as a sound work created by the composer Simon Fisher Turner for de Waal’s architectural intervention –one way or other– at the Schindler House, L.A., in 2018-19. It has since developed into a standalone album release with Mute Records.

Out on Mute on vinyl, CD and digitally on 27 March 2020. Limited to 1000 copies pressed on white vinyl with foil blocking. Includes sleeve notes and digital copy.

Photography: Edmund de Waal studio

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Exhibition

library of exile

Japanisches Palais, Dresden

30 November 2019 - 16 February 2020

Edmund De Waal Library Of Exile Dresden Killig 09

The library of exile, which formed part of de Waal's exhibition psalm in Venice earlier this year, is now at the Staatliche Kunstammlungen, Dresden.

The library of exile, which formed part of de Waal's exhibition psalm in Venice earlier this year, is now at the Staatliche Kunstammlungen, Dresden.


The library comprises more than 2,000 volumes in almost all the languages of the world written by exiled authors from antiquity to the present day.
The exhibition is accompanied by a full programme of events, more detail can be found here.
An online catalogue of the library's holdings is also available to explore here.

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Event

Lost and (re) found

Japanisches Palais, Dresden

6.00-7.30pm, 14 February 2020

Edmund De Waal Japanisches Palais The Library Of Exile

A reflection on flight and return, loss and restitution and the cross-border role of literature.

A reflection on flight and return, loss and restitution and the cross-border role of literature.

A conversation between Edmund de Waal, artist and author, Nora Pester, owner of the Jewish publishing house Hentrich & Hentrich Leipzig / Berlin, and Gilbert Lupfer, board member of the German Lost Art Foundation. Moderation: Léontine Meijer-van Mensch, Director of the Ethnological Museums in Leipzig, Dresden and Herrnhut.

The event is in English and participation is free of charge.

Photography: Oliver Killig

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Event

Holocaust Memorial Day

The British Library, London

7.00-8.30pm, 27 January 2020

Edw10 Ben Mc Kee

Using the diary of Polish-Jewish teenager Renia Spiegel as inspiration, Edmund de Waal explored the ability of personal stories to tell difficult truths, joined by translators Marta Dziurosz and Anna Blasiak, and chaired by writer Lisa Appignanesi.

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Event

library of exile interview

Japanisches Palais, Dresden

Edmund De Waal Skd Meet The Artist

In this interview, Edmund de Waal discussed his installation library of exile, in the second location of its tour at the SKD, Dresden.

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Exhibition

Elective Affinities

The Frick Collection, New York
30 May – 17 November 2019

West Gallery View 02 For Web

Temporary installation of new work at The Frick Collection, its first ever exhibition of a contemporary artist in the permanent galleries.

Temporary installation of new work at The Frick Collection, its first ever exhibition of a contemporary artist in the permanent galleries.

For this unique opportunity, de Waal created a series of site-specific sculptures made of porcelain, steel, gold, marble and glass in response to particular rooms and objects in the collection. These works were displayed in the museum's main galleries alongside works from the permanent collection.

To coincide with the exhibition, the museum published the third volume of its Frick Diptych series, pairing an essay by curator Charlotte Vignon with a text by de Waal. Together they offer fresh insight into a pair of porcelain candelabra by Pierre Gouthière, the French eighteenth-century chaser and gilder.

Photography: Christopher Burke

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Exhibition

a sort of speech

Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
28 September–2 November 2019

Installation View Edmund De Waal Goethestrasse Photo Def Image 12 For Web

An exhibition of new and recent installations at Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, exploring the boundaries between text and sculpture, inspired by the work of the modernist Swiss writer, Robert Walser.

An exhibition of new and recent installations at Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, exploring the boundaries between text and sculpture, inspired by the work of the modernist Swiss writer, Robert Walser.

Walser's literary output is the central inspiration behind de Waal's second solo exhibition in Berlin. Walser’s so-called 'pencil method' - an obsessive form of notation in microscript - allowed him to explore the immersive qualities of writing, something which has long held great significance for de Waal; "I love his writings...the way he made texts. I love his understanding of making as a way of marking time. Text can be sculpture, sculpture a sort of speech".

In response to this idea, de Waal made a new series of sculptures - free-standing vitrines holding paper-thin sheets of porcelain, embossed with his own handwritten texts, which are leant or stacked like pages of a notebook against vessels or marble fragments. Some hold these porcelain elements without any vessel forms - the first installations of their kind. For the 10m-long wall in the Goethestraße gallery, he also made his first site-specific text piece for Berlin. Gilded with sheets of gold leaf and overpainted with kaolin slip, de Waal wrote into the surface, transcribing his own Walser-inspired texts and microscripts.

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Interview

Tracy Chevalier meets Edmund de Waal

BBC Radio 4
9 October 2019

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Writer Tracy Chevalier met Edmund de Waal at his studio for BBC Radio 4's Only Artists programme.

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Exhibition

psalm

To coincide with the 58th Venice Biennale
8 May – 29 September 2019

Edmund De Waal Ghetto Map Psalm Exhibition At Venice Biennale

A major two-part exhibition in the Jewish Museum and the Ateneo Veneto, Venice.

A major two-part exhibition in the Jewish Museum and the Ateneo Veneto, Venice.

New installations of porcelain, marble and gold will reflect the literary and musical heritage of this extraordinary place. The intention is to animate spaces that are little known and little understood by visitors to the Biennale and to bring new audiences into the Ghetto.

The second part of the work will be a pavilion based at the Ateneo Veneto, the fifteenth-century building near the Fenice Opera House that has been an historic centre for cultural debate in Venice. Here, de Waal is constructing a small building within the main space that will house 2,000 books by exiled writers, from Ovid to the present day.

All the books will be in translation, reflecting the idea of language as migration. Four vitrines of porcelain vessels, based on Daniel Bomberg’s famous Renaissance printing of the Talmud, will hang on the walls amongst the books. The structure itself will have an exterior coated with porcelain, laid over gold leaf, into which de Waal will inscribe the names of the lost libraries of the world. Inside there will be spaces to sit and read. It will be a place of contemplation and a place of dialogue.

Throughout the Biennale there will be a rich programme of events, performances, readings, conversations and debate. The intention is to bring the experiences of contemporary writers in exile into focus and to celebrate the works in translation. There will also be events that focus on the cultures of Jewish Venice, on the Psalms, on contemporary poetry and on publishing.

Edmund de Waal said: “This is the project I have always dreamed of doing. It is about exile - what it means to have to move to another country, to speak another language. It brings new installations based on the Psalms, the poetry of exile, into some of the most beautiful spaces of the Ghetto, the first time some of these spaces have been used for contemporary art. And my library for the Ateneo - two thousand books within a porcelain-covered pavilion - will be the most significant sculpture of my life. It will be a new library reflecting Venice’s thousand years as a place of translation, a space to sit and read and be.”

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Event

In conversation on Cy Twombly

Frieze Masters, London
4 October 2019

Ed W In His Library Ben Mc Kee

As part of the Frieze Masters talks programme, Edmund de Waal will be discussing the work of Cy Twombly with Christine Kondoleon of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

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Event

Porcelain Past and Present

Freer Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institute

6.30pm, 8 October 2019

The Peacock Room 2

To accompany the exhibition The Peacock Room in Blue and White, currently on view in the Freer Gallery, Edmund de Waal presents a discussion about displays of Asian ceramics in America and Europe.

To accompany the exhibition The Peacock Room in Blue and White, currently on view in the Freer Gallery, Edmund de Waal presents a discussion about displays of Asian ceramics in America and Europe.

Photo: Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Galleries - The Peacock Room, CC BY-SA 2.0, Licence details

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Residency

Harman/Eisner Artist in Residence

Aspen Institute

Edw10 Ben Mc Kee

Edmund de Waal and actress Rita Moreno have been selected for the 2019 Harman/Eisner Artist in Residence program with the Aspen Institute.

Edmund de Waal and actress Rita Moreno have been selected for the 2019 Harman/Eisner Artist in Residence program with the Aspen Institute.

The Harman/Eisner Artist in Residence program explores the work of selected artists and provides forum for their approach to society’s current challenges. As part of the residency, de Waal and Moreno will participate at the Aspen Ideas Festival and engage in other Institute activities in Aspen, New York, Washington DC, and elsewhere.

“I have long appreciated the work of the Aspen Institute and the talented individuals devoted to its mission. It is a huge honour to now – through the Harman/Eisner Artist in Residence program – be counted amongst them.” – Edmund de Waal

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Event

The Library of Memory

Ateneo Veneto, Venice

19 – 20 September 2019

Edmund De Waal Psalm Venice Installation View 13

An International Symposium for the psalm cultural programme in Venice.

An International Symposium for the psalm cultural programme in Venice.

A two-day symposium bringing together voices from writers, curators, artists and historians from across the globe, including Mehnaz Afridi, Alessandro Bertoni, Tom Cartelli, John Champagne, Marc Epstein, Yoel Finkelman, Eva Hoffman, Mary Hoffman, Jacqueline Nicholls, Fania Oz-Salzberger, Dorit Raines, Bill Sherman, Gretchen Starr Le Beau, Murray Baumgarten, Margaret Brose, Simon Levis Sullam, Daniel Vogelmann and Yigal Zalmona.
The Friday afternoon concludes with a conversation between Edmund de Waal and the renowned Israeli author, David Grossman, at the Auditorium Santa Margherita.


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Event

The Financial Times Weekend Festival

Kenwood House Gardens, London
7 September 2019

Ed W Portrait 11 Ben Mc Kee

Edmund de Waal spoke at the Financial Times Weekend Festival, in the How to Spend It tent with Lucia van der Post, and in the Arts tent with Jan Dalley.

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Exhibition

Stuff Matters

Centraal Museum, Utrecht
19 April–1 September 2019

Jessica Stockholder Edmund De Waal

art without subject matter, I and II, are on show at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, as part of Stuff Matters, a retrospective exhibition of works by Jessica Stockholder.

art without subject matter, I and II, are on show at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, as part of Stuff Matters, a retrospective exhibition of works by Jessica Stockholder.

Acting as both artist and curator, Stockholder has selected over 60 items from more than 45 artists and makers. By combining these works in unexpected ways, intriguing relationshops emerge between artists, artisans and designers from Bart van der Leck to Helen Price and from Gustave Courbet to Gerrit Rietveld.

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Event

Affinities among Friends

The Frick Collection, New York
6.30pm, 10 October and 8 November 2019

North Hall View 05

In this two-part talks series at The Frick Collection, New York, in conjunction his exhibition Elective Affinities, de Waal is in conversation with writer Adam Gopnik (10 October) and artist Sally Mann (8 November) about art, writing and other topics.

In this two-part talks series at The Frick Collection, New York, in conjunction his exhibition Elective Affinities, de Waal is in conversation with writer Adam Gopnik (10 October) and artist Sally Mann (8 November) about art, writing and other topics.

Photography: Christopher Burke

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Event

Steel Light: Materials and Memories

Lecture at The Frick Collection
30 May 2019

Dining Room View 01

Delivered at the opening of Elective Affinities, this lecture explores de Waal's long relationship with the Frick and the meanings of collecting within his own life and artistic practice. Click below to play.

Delivered at the opening of Elective Affinities, this lecture explores de Waal's long relationship with the Frick and the meanings of collecting within his own life and artistic practice. Click below to play.

Photography: Christopher Burke

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Event

Tales of Exile

Ateneo Veneto, Venice
5.00pm, 6 June 2019

Edmund De Waal Psalm Venice Installation View 11

Part of the psalm cultural programme, a special series of events, curated together with the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. For more details, please see the psalm website.

Part of the psalm cultural programme, a special series of events, curated together with the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. For more details, please see the psalm website.

For this event, Edmund de Waal was joined by Lisa Appignanesi, Laura Forti, Helon Habila, Danielle McLaughlin, Sabine Scholl at the Ateneo Veneto, Venice.

Photo: Fulvio Orsenigo

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Event

On the Eve of Departure: objects, places, stories

Aspen Ideas Festival
10.20am, 27 June 2019

Edmund de Waal Psalm Venice Installation View 08

In this illustrated lecture, de Waal explores the way he works and some of the connections between his family stories and most recent exhibitions and projects in Vienna, at the Venice Biennale, and at the Frick Collection, New York.

In this illustrated lecture, de Waal explores the way he works and some of the connections between his family stories and most recent exhibitions and projects in Vienna, at the Venice Biennale, and at the Frick Collection, New York.

Photo: Fulvio Oresnigo

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Events

Kirker Lecture

Royal Geographical Society, London

6.00pm, 14 May 2019

Edmund de Waal Psalm Venice Installation View 13

This year's Kirker Lecture coincides with the unveiling of Edmund de Waal's major work for the Ghetto in Venice. Drawing on the themes of his psalm project - the poetry of exile, the co-existence of different communities and languages and the history of translation in Venice over the course of a thousand years, Edmund de Waal considers the rich heritage of the Ghetto as a place of exchange in many different senses. This event is in aid of Venice in Peril.

This year's Kirker Lecture coincides with the unveiling of Edmund de Waal's major work for the Ghetto in Venice. Drawing on the themes of his psalm project - the poetry of exile, the co-existence of different communities and languages and the history of translation in Venice over the course of a thousand years, Edmund de Waal considers the rich heritage of the Ghetto as a place of exchange in many different senses. This event is in aid of Venice in Peril.

Photo: Fulvio Orsenigo

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Exhibition

breath

Ivorypress, Madrid

20 February – 18 May 2019

Edmund De Waal Breath Ivorypress Madrid Every Song I 01

For breath, Edmund de Waal was invited to work across Ivorypress’s three different spaces: its publishing house, exhibition space and bookshop. At the heart of this project is an Artist’s Book, published by Ivorypress: a project which has spanned many years, looking hard into what books are, how they feel and their presence in the world.

For breath, Edmund de Waal was invited to work across Ivorypress’s three different spaces: its publishing house, exhibition space and bookshop. At the heart of this project is an Artist’s Book, published by Ivorypress: a project which has spanned many years, looking hard into what books are, how they feel and their presence in the world.



It is a homage to Romanian-born poet Paul Celan, a book about slowing down. To accompany the Artist’s Book, de Waal has made a series of 17 new works, including vitrines, shelves and diptychs conceived as open books, which take inspiration from the Spanish artist Francisco de Zurbarán, the writer Federico García Lorca, and also from Celan. There is porcelain, marble and gilding; there is gold leaf and platinum, acknowledging the silver dishes in Zurbarán’s paintings. There are objects hidden from view and there are repetitions. Alongside these works there is a reading room, a selection of 100 books inviting visitors to sit down and read. The Artist’s Book, the exhibition, and the reading room are conceived as a single project.


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Publication

breath - artists book

Ivorypress, Madrid

Limited edition

Breath © Pablo Gómez Ogando Courtesy Ivorypress 84

This short film on the making of the Edmund de Waal's artist's book with Ivorypress, Madrid, explores process, materials, and the reasons for creating this limited edition piece. Click the play button below to watch.

This short film on the making of the Edmund de Waal's artist's book with Ivorypress, Madrid, explores process, materials, and the reasons for creating this limited edition piece. Click the play button below to watch.

Photography: © Pablo Gómez-Ogando, courtesy of Ivorypress

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Event

In honour of Johann Friedrich Böttger

The Zwinger, Dresden

7.00pm, 13 March 2019

Edmund De Waal Book Archive 045 WEB

This March, Edmund de Waal will be contributing to an evening held in honour of the alchemist and inventor, Johann Friedrich Böttger, on the 300th anniversary of his death. De Waal will be reading from his most recent book, The White Road (2015), and discussing Böttger’s legacy, along with that of his mentor, Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus.

This March, Edmund de Waal will be contributing to an evening held in honour of the alchemist and inventor, Johann Friedrich Böttger, on the 300th anniversary of his death. De Waal will be reading from his most recent book, The White Road (2015), and discussing Böttger’s legacy, along with that of his mentor, Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus.


De Waal will also be revealing his plans for a new installation commissioned for the Porzellansammlung’s extraordinary collection.

Admission is free. Please click below for more information and use the Anmelden button to register.

Photo: Page from Böttger's notebook showing his first porcelain tests, 15 January 1708. © Meissen Couture.

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Event

The Gomes Lecture

15 February 2019
Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge

Edmund de Waal portrait by Ben Mc Kee work 2015 Ben Mc Kee

The annual Gomes Lecture at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, delivered this February by Edmund de Waal, was entitled In Touch: Objects, Families, Stories. Previous lecturers include Neil McGregor, Sandy Nairne, and Professor Alison Richard. Click the speaker icon below for an audio recording of the lecture.

The annual Gomes Lecture at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, delivered this February by Edmund de Waal, was entitled In Touch: Objects, Families, Stories. Previous lecturers include Neil McGregor, Sandy Nairne, and Professor Alison Richard. Click the speaker icon below for an audio recording of the lecture.

Photo: Ben McKee

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Exhibition

–one way or other–

The Schindler House, Los Angeles
15 September 2018–6 January 2019

Edmund De Waal Schindler House Los Angeles 05

In autumn 2018, de Waal’s first architectural intervention in America opened at the Schindler House: a landmark of West Coast Modernism, built in 1922 in West Hollywood by Viennese émigré architect, Rudolph Schindler.

In autumn 2018, de Waal’s first architectural intervention in America opened at the Schindler House: a landmark of West Coast Modernism, built in 1922 in West Hollywood by Viennese émigré architect, Rudolph Schindler.


Conceived as a modular, changeable live-work building for two families, the house became a site of forward-thinking aesthetic, cultural and political activity, frequented by architects, dancers and artists from Frank Lloyd Wright to John Cage.

For de Waal, the Schindler House 'is an idea about beginnings. It stands as an attempt to create a place for both cooperative living and cooperative practice, to reset the conditions in which a modern family could live and experiment...The last decades of travelling to Vienna have made me think of what it might mean to be an émigré and build a house, to question what you bring with you when you start again so definitively.’ The exhibition included recent works, made in direct response to the materials and spaces of the house, and a sound piece conceived with the composer, Simon Fisher Turner, 'a layered memory soundscape of Vienna through its Raumplan, its volumes’.

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Press

Review of Yugen

The Guardian
17 December 2018

3 Edmund De Waal Wayne Mc Gregor Ballet Yugen Photographed By Andrej Uspenski

Wayne McGregor's ballet, Yugen, was selected by the Guardian as one of their top ten dance shows of the year. The ballet, with sets designed by Edmund de Waal, was set to Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms (1965), and commissioned to celebrate the centenary of Bernstein's birth.

Wayne McGregor's ballet, Yugen, was selected by the Guardian as one of their top ten dance shows of the year. The ballet, with sets designed by Edmund de Waal, was set to Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms (1965), and commissioned to celebrate the centenary of Bernstein's birth.

Photo © ROH, 2018. Photographed by Andrej Uspenski.

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Exhibition

the poems of our climate

Gagosian, San Francisco

20 September–8 December 2018

Edmund De Waal Poems Of Our Climate At Gagosian San Francisco 01

De Waal's first exhibition in San Francisco opened at Gagosian this September. The new body of work brings together porcelain vessels with fragments of text by poets including Emily Dickinson, John Cage, Rilke and Wallace Stevens, whose work lends the exhibition its title. De Waal has referenced poetry in his work for over 20 years but, as he describes it, "here I’m trying to come closer to what it feels like to remember a poem, to carry it with you through the decades, a phrase or image coming into your life and making the world feel denser with possibility."

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Exhibition

The Precious Clay

The Museum of Royal Worcester

20 September 2018–20 March 2019

Edmund De Waal In Time Ii At The Museum Of Royal Worcester

The Museum of Royal Worcester's inaugural exhibition following their refurbishment will examine how contemporary artists look towards porcelain and why some choose to use it in their practice. The exhibition will include work by contemporary artists including Ai Wei Wei, Mona Hatoum, Rachel Kneebone, Christine Borland, Lubaina Himid, Matteo Nasini.

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Publication

wavespeech

New publication
Wunderkammer Press

Edmund De Waal Book Archive 293 Web

wavespeech is an artist-signed and numbered publication in a limited edition of 200 that celebrates the collaboration between between Edmund de Waal and David Ward at the Pier Arts Centre, Orkney.

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Interview

Interview with CBS

CBS News

25 November 2018

7 Book gallery

CBS News correspondent Martha Teichner visits the studio and discusses de Waal's pots, writing and the netsuke in this short video piece.

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Event

German Lost Art Foundation

Haus der Kulturen de Welt, Berlin

27 November 2018

Haus der Kulturen der Welt Blaue Stunde Berlin 160521 ako

To mark the 20th an­niver­sary of the adop­tion of the Wash­ing­ton Prin­ci­ples, the Ger­man Lost Art Foun­da­tion is con­ven­ing an in­ter­na­tion­al con­fer­ence of spe­cial­ists: 20 Years Wash­ing­ton Prin­ci­ples: Roadmap for the Fu­ture, at the Haus der Kul­turen der Welt in Berlin.

To mark the 20th an­niver­sary of the adop­tion of the Wash­ing­ton Prin­ci­ples, the Ger­man Lost Art Foun­da­tion is con­ven­ing an in­ter­na­tion­al con­fer­ence of spe­cial­ists: 20 Years Wash­ing­ton Prin­ci­ples: Roadmap for the Fu­ture, at the Haus der Kul­turen der Welt in Berlin.


As part of the programme, Edmund de Waal will be delivering a lecture entitled On the Eve of Departure: Objects, Families, Stories.

Photo: Ansgar Koreng / CC BY-SA 3.0 (DE), CC BY-SA 3.0 de, Terms of license

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Podcast

The Art Newspaper

Podcast
30 November 2018

Hare netsuke c 1880 3

Edmund de Waal joins Ben Luke on The Art Newspaper's podcast to discuss the journey of his netsuke collection and the current state of nazi-loot restitution.

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Loan

Netsuke collection

Jewish Museum, Vienna
Permanent loan

30  Netsuke Of Hare

The collection of netsuke, which were at the heart of de Waal's memoir The Hare with Amber Eyes, has been placed on permanent loan to the Jewish Museum in Vienna. Speaking about the loan, de Waal stated 'The decision to place the netsuke on loan allows them to tell the story of migration, identity and exile to a new audience'.

The collection of netsuke, which were at the heart of de Waal's memoir The Hare with Amber Eyes, has been placed on permanent loan to the Jewish Museum in Vienna. Speaking about the loan, de Waal stated 'The decision to place the netsuke on loan allows them to tell the story of migration, identity and exile to a new audience'.


"In The Hare with Amber Eyes, I wrote of how objects can evoke histories through touch, and a stipulation of the loan is that a group will be available for handling by the many visitors to the Jewish Museum.” An exhibition based on the family collection, which will also tour internationally, is due to open in November 2019. Click the link below to read more in the Art Newspaper's article about this loan.


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Exhibition

Samla, sortera, ta hand om

RIAN Designmusem, Falkenberg, Sweden

15 September–25 November 2018

Edmund De Waal Rian Design Museum Sweden

The RIAN Designmuseum in Falkenberg, Sweden, selected three works from Edmund de Waal's archive: – and gone –, 2015; minerva, 2016 (pictured); and landscape with a calm, 2011; for their exhibition Samla, sortera, ta hand om. The exhibition explored the ideas of collecting, of private and public, and of the future of the museum's activities.

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Donation

white island, II (for W.B.)

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Ibiza

White Island Ii 01

white island, II (for W.B.), (2018), was gifted to the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Ibiza for their permanent collection, following de Waal's solo exhibition in 2018.

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Event

In conversation with Phillippe Sands

Well Walk Pottery, Hampstead

12 November 2018

Edmund De Waal Shards0740 Number13

Edmund de Waal will be in conversation with author of the critically-acclaimed book East West Street, Phillipe Sands at the Well Walk Pottery in Hampstead, north London.

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Exhibition

white island

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Ibiza

8 June–16 September 2018

640px Museu d Art Contemporani d Eivissa

This summer, MACE is holding de Waal's first exhibition in Spain. 'This is the white island', says de Waal: 'the white of the salt flats, the foam breaking in the breeze. The white of the rock. The white haze.' A place of transition and exchange, the artist has worked closely with the museum to create a special exhibition of recent white works - 'sculptures made for strong light' - alongside new installations, combining Paros marble, alabaster and Ibizan salt with his porcelain for the first time.

This summer, MACE is holding de Waal's first exhibition in Spain. 'This is the white island', says de Waal: 'the white of the salt flats, the foam breaking in the breeze. The white of the rock. The white haze.' A place of transition and exchange, the artist has worked closely with the museum to create a special exhibition of recent white works - 'sculptures made for strong light' - alongside new installations, combining Paros marble, alabaster and Ibizan salt with his porcelain for the first time.

Photo: Ferran Nogues, CC BY-SA 2.0, License details

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Exhibition

Early work: vessels from the Rosenheimer Collection

New Art Centre, Wiltshire

9 June–12 August 2018

Img 1383 1

The Rosenheimer Collection of de Waal’s early vessels is on display at the New Art Centre, Wiltshire, from 9th June. The exhibition focuses on de Waal's early work and celebrates his twenty-five year relationship with friend and collector, Joram Rosenheimer.

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Event

Cheltenham Literary Festival

Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage

3.00pm, 11 October 2018

Edmund De Waal Shards0742 Number2

Tracing its journey from 18th century China to Europe, de Waal shares the rich and fascinating history of porcelain and explores his own decades-long relationship with the decorative arts at Cheltenham Literary Festival. Chaired by Rosie Goldsmith.

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Event

Hay Literary Festival

The Wellcome Book Prize Lecture
4.00pm, Wednesday 30 May 2018

Edw10 Ben Mc Kee

This year's chair of the Wellcome Book Prize judging panel, de Waal gave their annual lecture at the Hay Literary Festival, speaking about mortality and how it is reflected across different genres and art-forms. Titled Memory and Memorial: Writing About the End of Life, de Waal discussed the poetry of Anne Carson and Max Porter, the memoirs of Paul Kalanithi and Marion Coutts, and the writings of Atul Gawande and Julia Samuel. He also spoke about his own works and collaborations exploring themes and ideas of memorial.  

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Project

Yugen, a new ballet by Wayne McGregor

Royal Opera House, London
15 March–9 April 2018

Edmund De Waal Wayne Mc Gregor Yugen  Federico Bonelli Sarah Lamb Calvin Richardson © Roh 2018  Photographed By Andrej Uspenski

For the Royal Ballet's 2017/18 Season, de Waal designed the set for a new piece by their resident choreographer, Wayne McGregor. Set to Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms (1965), Yugen was commissioned to celebrate the centenary of Bernstein's birth. For these 'heart breaking songs of exile', the artist created 'places of refuge and pause', and costumes in a spectrum of reds with designer, Shirin Guild. Click below to read de Waal's text on the collaboration for The Daily Telegraph and here to watch a video of McGregor rehearsing with The Royal Ballet dancers.

For the Royal Ballet's 2017/18 Season, de Waal designed the set for a new piece by their resident choreographer, Wayne McGregor. Set to Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms (1965), Yugen was commissioned to celebrate the centenary of Bernstein's birth. For these 'heart breaking songs of exile', the artist created 'places of refuge and pause', and costumes in a spectrum of reds with designer, Shirin Guild. Click below to read de Waal's text on the collaboration for The Daily Telegraph and here to watch a video of McGregor rehearsing with The Royal Ballet dancers.

Photo © ROH, 2018. Photographed by Andrej Uspenski.

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Commission

Vale

British Art Medal Society

Commission

Edmund De Waal Bams Vale Composite

Vale is the first medal made by the artist, commissioned especially by the British Art Medal Society. Discussing this 'wonderfully provocative' invitation, de Waal describes how he 'kept coming back to the image of the obol, the silver coin given to Charon as payment for that great transition at death across the river Styx... So I created a silver coin.

Vale is the first medal made by the artist, commissioned especially by the British Art Medal Society. Discussing this 'wonderfully provocative' invitation, de Waal describes how he 'kept coming back to the image of the obol, the silver coin given to Charon as payment for that great transition at death across the river Styx... So I created a silver coin.


On the one side is an image taken from an early Greek lekythos of the prow of Charon’s boat with the single word vale, farewell. On the reverse are the words, “this is Charon’s obol. A kind of viaticum – what fierce brightness.” I made the model in porcelain and have worked the clay to give a feeling of something worn away and abraded.'



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Event

Wellcome Book Prize

Winner announced

Edmund 50 SF edit

Irish author Mark O’Connell been awarded the 2018 Wellcome Book Prize for his extraordinary debut To Be a Machine: Adventures among cyborgs, utopians, hackers and the futurists solving the modest problem of death. The prize judging panel of five people was this year chaired by Edmund de Waal, and includes neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow, journalists Bryony Gordon and Sumit Paul-Choudhury, and writer Sophie Ratcliffe. De Waal described the book as "a passionate, entertaining and cogent examination of those who would choose to live forever".

Irish author Mark O’Connell been awarded the 2018 Wellcome Book Prize for his extraordinary debut To Be a Machine: Adventures among cyborgs, utopians, hackers and the futurists solving the modest problem of death. The prize judging panel of five people was this year chaired by Edmund de Waal, and includes neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow, journalists Bryony Gordon and Sumit Paul-Choudhury, and writer Sophie Ratcliffe. De Waal described the book as "a passionate, entertaining and cogent examination of those who would choose to live forever".

Photo: Eamon McCabe

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Exhibition

Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

20 March–17 June 2018

Edmund De Waal A Place Made Fast Fitzwilliam Museum

This large-scale vitrine work, a place made fast (2014), is on loan to Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery - an exhibition first staged at the Yale Center for British Art and soon to open at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, in March. The exhibition tells the story of studio pottery in Britain from the early twentieth century to the present, focusing on the evolution of the vessel form.

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Exhibition

Actions

Kettle's Yard, University of Cambridge

10 February–6 May 2018

640px Kettles Yard

A recent pair of black works has been selected for Actions. The image of the world can be different, the inaugural exhibition at the newly-refurbished Kettle's Yard. The exhibition seeks to reassert the potential of art as a poetic, social and political force in the world. Below is a link de Waal's Telegraph article on his correspondence with Jim Ede and why you must visit the new Kettle's Yard, one of his favourite places in the world. Click the link below, to read de Waal's piece in The Daily Telegraph about the show.

A recent pair of black works has been selected for Actions. The image of the world can be different, the inaugural exhibition at the newly-refurbished Kettle's Yard. The exhibition seeks to reassert the potential of art as a poetic, social and political force in the world. Below is a link de Waal's Telegraph article on his correspondence with Jim Ede and why you must visit the new Kettle's Yard, one of his favourite places in the world. Click the link below, to read de Waal's piece in The Daily Telegraph about the show.

Photo: © Andrew Dunn

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Publications

Three new publications

Things of Beauty Growing, Vitamin C: Clay + Ceramic, The Artist Project 

Edmund De Waal Three New Books

Three new beautiful titles featuring de Waal's work have recently been published. Things of Beauty Growing is the catalogue for the exhibition of the same name which opened at the Yale Center for British Art in Connecticut last year, and which is soon to come to the UK at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. 

Three new beautiful titles featuring de Waal's work have recently been published. Things of Beauty Growing is the catalogue for the exhibition of the same name which opened at the Yale Center for British Art in Connecticut last year, and which is soon to come to the UK at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. 


Vitamin C: Clay + Ceramic is a survey of ceramic artists which includes work from de Waal's exhibition Irrkunst at Galerie Max Heltzer last year, and The Artist Project accompanies the Metropolitan Museum's award-winning series of thought-provoking interviews and in which de Waal highlights a Tibetan Monk's Cap ewer, from the Met's collection.

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Donation

Ephrussi family archive

Jewish Museum, Vienna
Donation

Screen Shot 2018 01 31 At 14 34 32

The Archive of the Eprhussi family, as explored by the author in The Hare with Amber Eyes, has been donated to the Jewish Museum in Vienna. In his own words, "On 31st January, we formally handed over our family archive to the Jewish Museum in Vienna. 

The Archive of the Eprhussi family, as explored by the author in The Hare with Amber Eyes, has been donated to the Jewish Museum in Vienna. In his own words, "On 31st January, we formally handed over our family archive to the Jewish Museum in Vienna. 


The Ephrussi Archive contains hundreds of photographs, notebooks, diaries and letters relating to the family’s life in Vienna, Paris, Odessa and Tokyo. It also includes manuscripts of Elisabeth de Waal’s novels and a Secessionist album of watercolours of characters in Fin-de-Siecle Vienna. In the autumn, the netsuke collection will be joining the museum on long-term loan also. We are so grateful for the warmth of the reception given to my father, Victor, by the Director and curators of the Museum." Image © wulz.cc

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Event

Martin Roth Lecture

Albertinum, Dresden
16 January 2018

640px 20120827010 DR Dresden Neumarktgebiet Salzgasse Albertinum

In honour of the late Martin Roth, de Waal was invited to give the inaugural lecture set up in his friend's memory. De Waal's talk, I walk the line: Art on the border, was delivered in January at the Albertinum in Dresden. Click below to listen to a recording of the lecture.

In honour of the late Martin Roth, de Waal was invited to give the inaugural lecture set up in his friend's memory. De Waal's talk, I walk the line: Art on the border, was delivered in January at the Albertinum in Dresden. Click below to listen to a recording of the lecture.

Photo: © Jorg Blobelt. CC BY-SA 4.0, License terms

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Film

EX LIBRIS – The New York Public Library

New film by Frederick Wiseman

640px New York Public Library 2

Edmund de Waal is thrilled to be a part of Frederick Wiseman's extraordinary new film about the New York Public Library.

Edmund de Waal is thrilled to be a part of Frederick Wiseman's extraordinary new film about the New York Public Library.

Photo: Elisa Rolle, CC BY-SA 3.0, License terms

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Exhibition

Benjamin and Brecht. Thinking in Extremes

Academy of Arts, Berlin

26 October 2017–28 January 2018

Edmund De Waal Casuality List 02 A4

Last autumn, the Academy of Arts in Berlin presented an exhibition examining the relationship between the critic Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) and the writer Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956). The exhibition included a number of contemporary artworks, including de Waal's casualty list from 2017 (see above).

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Publication

Frick Diptychs

The Frick Collection

New publication

Edw10 Ben Mc Kee

Edmund de Waal, James Ivory and Hilary Mantel are among the first participants in Frick Diptychs, a new series of small books to be published by the museum that pair masterworks from the Frick Collection with critical and literary essays. De Waal's essay will be on the subject of a pair of porcelain and bronze candlesticks by the 18th-century French metalworker Pierre Gouthière.

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Exhibition

Morandi / Edmund de Waal

Artipelag, Stockholm

7 April–1 October 2017

Edmund De Waal Artepelag 21

A major exhibition of work by Edmund de Waal and Giorgio Morandi was on display this summer at Artipelag in Stockholm. Exploring the visual and literary dialogue between the two artists, the exhibition featured over fifty paintings by Morandi, some of which had never before left Bologna, and over thirty works by de Waal. The exhibition included some of de Waal’s largest sculptures to date alongside a new body of work made especially for the light-filled galleries of Artipelag and in dialogue with Morandi’s paintings.

A major exhibition of work by Edmund de Waal and Giorgio Morandi was on display this summer at Artipelag in Stockholm. Exploring the visual and literary dialogue between the two artists, the exhibition featured over fifty paintings by Morandi, some of which had never before left Bologna, and over thirty works by de Waal. The exhibition included some of de Waal’s largest sculptures to date alongside a new body of work made especially for the light-filled galleries of Artipelag and in dialogue with Morandi’s paintings.

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Exhibition

Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery

Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

14 September–3 December 2017

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This large-scale vitrine work, a place made fast (2014), is now on view at the Yale Centre for British Art as part of Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery until 3rd Dec. The exhibition tells the story of studio pottery in Britain, from the early twentieth century to the present, by focusing on the evolution of the vessel form. The show will travel to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge for March 2018.

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Exhibition

Kneaded Knowledge - The Language of Ceramics

Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz
24 September 2016–29 February 2017

Kneaded Knowledge Landing Page

Edmund de Waal joins forces with Ai Weiwei in a collaborative group show examining the history of ceramics, juxtaposing their own works with ancient Chinese pottery and modernist works by the likes of Picasso, Mirò and Fontana. Alongside works from de Waal's archive, the exhibition includes de Waal's large-scale installation, Irrkunst, shown earlier this year in Berlin.

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Event

Art and Exile

Leo Baeck Institute, Queen Mary University

23 March 2017, 6.30pm

Ed W portrait 6 Ben Mc Kee

In his first talk for the Leo Baeck Institute, entitled 'On the eve of departure: Art and Exile', Edmund de Waal will talk about the telling of family stories through words and sculpture, touching on his writing of The Hare with Amber Eyes and works by Paul Celan and Walter Benjamin.

In his first talk for the Leo Baeck Institute, entitled 'On the eve of departure: Art and Exile', Edmund de Waal will talk about the telling of family stories through words and sculpture, touching on his writing of The Hare with Amber Eyes and works by Paul Celan and Walter Benjamin.

Photo: Ben McKee

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Exhibition

Artificial Realities

Courtauld Institute of Art, London
January 2016 - March 2017

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As part of the 12th East Wing Biennial exhibition at the Courtauld Institute of Art, Edmund de Waal has loaned a small pair of vitrines called in Berggasse to sit above a pair of doors in the main entrance to the building. The exhibition also features work by Anthony Gormley, Rachel Whiteread, Jim Lambie and Tracey Emin.

As part of the 12th East Wing Biennial exhibition at the Courtauld Institute of Art, Edmund de Waal has loaned a small pair of vitrines called in Berggasse to sit above a pair of doors in the main entrance to the building. The exhibition also features work by Anthony Gormley, Rachel Whiteread, Jim Lambie and Tracey Emin.

Photo: Steve Daniels, CC BY-SA 2.0, License terms

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Exhibition

Shaping Ceramics: From Lucie Rie to Edmund de Waal

Jewish Museum, London

10 November 2016–26 February 2017

Espresso cup

The Jewish Museum in London are showing two works of Edmund de Waal's in their exhibition on Jewish ceramicists. Both early pieces from the Crafts Council's permanent collection, the works will be shown alongside vessels by Lucie Rie, Hans Coper and Grete Marks. De Waal has also contributed an essay to their exhibition catalogue, which will be published later this year.

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Catalogue

Cy Twombly and White

Centre Pompidou, Paris

30 November 2016–24 April 2017

Edmund de Waal portrait by Ben Mc Kee work 2015 Ben Mc Kee

Edmund de Waal has written an exhibition catalogue essay for a major retrospective on Cy Twombly, being held at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. De Waal writes, 'This finding a whiteness runs through Twombly's life as an artist, a photographer, a maker of sculpture, a reader of poetry...' The catalogue will be available to purchase both at the museum and online.

Edmund de Waal has written an exhibition catalogue essay for a major retrospective on Cy Twombly, being held at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. De Waal writes, 'This finding a whiteness runs through Twombly's life as an artist, a photographer, a maker of sculpture, a reader of poetry...' The catalogue will be available to purchase both at the museum and online.

Photography: Ben McKee

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Exhibition

Kneaded Knowledge: The Language of Ceramics

National Gallery of Prague
17 March–27 August 2017

Edmund De Waal Ai Wei Wei Prague Kneaded Knowledge

Edmund de Waal and Ai Weiwei's collaborative exhibition examining the history of ceramics which first opened in September 2016 at the Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz, has now travelled to Prague. The exhibition juxtaposes their own works with significant examples from Chinese pots to the modernist works of Picasso, Mirò and Fontana.

Edmund de Waal and Ai Weiwei's collaborative exhibition examining the history of ceramics which first opened in September 2016 at the Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz, has now travelled to Prague. The exhibition juxtaposes their own works with significant examples from Chinese pots to the modernist works of Picasso, Mirò and Fontana.

Photography: National Gallery of Prague

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Donation

Letters from Tomis

Middlebury College Museum of Art, Vermont

Letters From Tomis I 2015 Med Res Side View For Web

Letters from Tomis, I, an installation from 2015, has been gifted to the collection of Middlebury College Museum of Art in Vermont where it is now on view.

Letters from Tomis, I, an installation from 2015, has been gifted to the collection of Middlebury College Museum of Art in Vermont where it is now on view.

Photography: Ian Skelton

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Exhibition

Lettres de Londres

Espace Muraille, Geneva

20 January–15 April 2017

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Lettres de Londres was Edmund de Waal's first exhibition in Geneva and featured over 25 works made between 2013 and 2016. The works directly respond to the writings of the French philosopher Voltaire, who lived and worked in the city towards the end of his life. His 1734 collection of essays - Letters to London - was the inspiration behind this exhibition.

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Exhibition

Orchestra of Letters

The Lettering Arts Centre, Snape Maltings
2 June–2 October 2017

Edmund De Waal Shadow Stones

As part of the Aldeburgh Festival, Edmund de Waal's piece shadow stones was included in the exhibition Orchestra of Letters at the Lettering Arts Centre.

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Event

Bright Earth, Fired Earth: Travels with Porcelain

Yorkshire Museum
5.00pm, 8 May 2017

Yorkshire Museum

For this annual lecture for the Centre of Ceramic Art as part of York University and York Art Gallery, Edmund de Waal will explore a history of obsession with porcelain and will discuss his recent projects in Vienna, Stockholm and Los Angeles.

For this annual lecture for the Centre of Ceramic Art as part of York University and York Art Gallery, Edmund de Waal will explore a history of obsession with porcelain and will discuss his recent projects in Vienna, Stockholm and Los Angeles.

Photography: Kaly99 Licence details



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Acquisition

a new ground, II

Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth

Acquisition

A New Ground 2 D5 2 A4

The Art Gallery of Western Australia has acquired a new ground, II (2015) for their permanent collection. The work was first shown in 2016 at the Gagosian Gallery in Beverley Hills and is the first of de Waal's to be on public display in the country.

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Donation

fetched home

University of Sheffield

Fetcehd Home 01

Edmund de Waal has gifted a new work called fetched home (2016) to the University of Sheffield, which has gone on display at the Western Bank Library. The piece was unveiled alongside a talk by de Waal on 'Homelessness, Exile and Art', in which he discussed the influence of Paul Celan's poetry on his work, the process of making as a way of finding a home for his vessels, and how writing and art can overcome the sense of not belonging in the world.

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Acquisition

a short history of the China trade

The Government Art Collection
Acquisition

A Short History Of China Trade 01

The Government Art Collection have acquired Edmund de Waal's work, a short history of the China trade (2016), for the British Ambassador’s Residence in Beijing.

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Exhibition

During the Night

Kunshistoriches Museum, Vienna

10 October 2016–29 January 2017

Vienna1

This winter Edmund de Waal's curated exhibition, During the Night, will open at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The show is the culmination of three years spent choosing particular historical objects, paintings and treasures from the museum's collections, from 16th-century corals, dragon-shaped vessels and Roman fibulae to works by Joachim Patinir, Cranach and Roelant Savery.

This winter Edmund de Waal's curated exhibition, During the Night, will open at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The show is the culmination of three years spent choosing particular historical objects, paintings and treasures from the museum's collections, from 16th-century corals, dragon-shaped vessels and Roman fibulae to works by Joachim Patinir, Cranach and Roelant Savery.


Inspired by an encounter with a drawing of a nightmare by Albrecht Dürer, the exhibition will explore themes of anxiety, the fear of the unknown and what terrors can be found after dark. During the Night is the second exhibition in a series of personally curated projects at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, initiated by Ed Ruscha's, The Ancients Stole all Our Great Ideas, in 2012.

Photography: Photography © KHM-Museumsverband

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Exhibition

Rhythm in White

Gardiner Museum, Toronto

9 September 2016–4 January 2017

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A series of early works by Edmund de Waal are currently on view at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto. The works are taken from two Canadian private collections and include cargo, vessels made by de Waal in 1990s and inspired by the history of cargos bringing porcelain from China and Japan to Europe, and twin, two lidded jars commissioned by one of the collectors to celebrate the birth of twins in the family.

A series of early works by Edmund de Waal are currently on view at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto. The works are taken from two Canadian private collections and include cargo, vessels made by de Waal in 1990s and inspired by the history of cargos bringing porcelain from China and Japan to Europe, and twin, two lidded jars commissioned by one of the collectors to celebrate the birth of twins in the family.

Photography: remundo Licence details

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Exhibition

Modern Japanese Design

Manchester Art Gallery
4 December 2015 - 31 January 2017

The Fascination Of Whats Difficult West Gallery Wm Paul Barker

Edmund de Waal's work the fascination of what's difficult is currently on view at Manchester Art Gallery, as part of their exhibition Modern Japanese Design. De Waal's installation, first displayed in 2012 at Waddesdon Manor, is shown alongside pieces from the museum's collections of fashion, furniture, lighting, glass, metalwork and ceramics, in an exploration of how materials and techniques have influenced Japanese design.

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Film

During the Night

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

10 October 2016–29 January 2017

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Edmund de Waal introduces During the Night, discussing some of the objects and paintings in the show as well as the inspiration behind the exhibition.

Edmund de Waal introduces During the Night, discussing some of the objects and paintings in the show as well as the inspiration behind the exhibition.

Photography: Photography © KHM-Museumsverband

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Award

Book of the Decade Award

October 2016

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The Hare with Amber Eyes has been named as the book of the decade by independent booksellers and their readers. The 'Best of the Best' campaign was launched earlier this year to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Independent Bookshop Week. Other authors on the shortlist included Hilary Mantel, Anne Enright, Kate Atkinson and Jeanette Winterson. On receiving the award, Edmund de Waal said 'To be amongst this gathering of writers is a huge honour and to win this prize is overwhelming.' 

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Event

Metamorphosen: Edmund de Waal and Aurora Orchestra

Royal Festival Hall, London

4.00pm, 4 February 2017

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Following on from a major collaboration in 2015, Edmund de Waal joins forces with Aurora Orchestra again, this time to explore the backdrop to Richard Strauss' work Metamorphosen. De Waal will take the audience on a tour around the ruins of German cities at the end of World War II before a live performance with guest conductor Andrew Marwood.

Following on from a major collaboration in 2015, Edmund de Waal joins forces with Aurora Orchestra again, this time to explore the backdrop to Richard Strauss' work Metamorphosen. De Waal will take the audience on a tour around the ruins of German cities at the end of World War II before a live performance with guest conductor Andrew Marwood.

Photography: By Ungry Young Man from Vienna, Austria Licence details

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Event

During the Night: Open all night

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 

From 3.00pm, 26 November 2016

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To celebrate the opening of Edmund de Waal's exhibition, During the Night, the Kunsthistorisches Museum will be opening their doors for an all night programme of tours, talks, live music and readings. Join de Waal at 2.00am in the galleries to hear some of the stories and secrets behind particular objects in the exhibition.

To celebrate the opening of Edmund de Waal's exhibition, During the Night, the Kunsthistorisches Museum will be opening their doors for an all night programme of tours, talks, live music and readings. Join de Waal at 2.00am in the galleries to hear some of the stories and secrets behind particular objects in the exhibition.

Photography: Photography © KHM-Museumsverband

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Exhibition

Frieze Art Fair

Regent's Park, London

October 2016

Frieze London 2016 Edmund De Waal Installation View D Gagosian

Edmund de Waal discusses the body of work he made for Gagosian Gallery's stand at Frieze Art Fair, where his porcelain was shown alongside new materials including graphite, silver and alabaster.

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Event

Mise Éire: Shaping a Nation through Design

National Museum of Ireland, Dublin

12.30pm, 4 November 2016

National Museum of Ireland Collins Barracks Dublin 01

Edmund de Waal will be travelling to Ireland this Autumn to give a talk about the Fonthill Vase, a 14th century vessel and one of the earliest pieces of porcelain to arrive in Europe from China, which has been in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Ireland in the 1950s. The talk comes out of de Waal's research for his book, The White Road, in which he describes first visiting the museum on a pilgrimage to see the vase.

Edmund de Waal will be travelling to Ireland this Autumn to give a talk about the Fonthill Vase, a 14th century vessel and one of the earliest pieces of porcelain to arrive in Europe from China, which has been in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Ireland in the 1950s. The talk comes out of de Waal's research for his book, The White Road, in which he describes first visiting the museum on a pilgrimage to see the vase.

Photography: GualdimG Licence details

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Event

Pilkington Lecture

Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

6.30pm, 10 November 2016

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Edmund de Waal has been invited to give the annual Pilkington Lecture for the Friends of Whitworth Gallery in Manchester. His talk, entitled Give it shadow enough: Art and memory, will explore the intersections between the visual arts, poetry and memory making and draw on his own practice as a maker and that of other 20th century artists. The talk will be followed by supper in the galleries.

Edmund de Waal has been invited to give the annual Pilkington Lecture for the Friends of Whitworth Gallery in Manchester. His talk, entitled Give it shadow enough: Art and memory, will explore the intersections between the visual arts, poetry and memory making and draw on his own practice as a maker and that of other 20th century artists. The talk will be followed by supper in the galleries.

Photography: Citysuitesimages Licence details

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Event

Life through Art: Edmund de Waal and AS Byatt in conversation

Paradiso, Amsterdam

11.00am, 13 November 2016

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Edmund de Waal joins this year's Erasmus Prize winner, AS Byatt, to talk about her life and writing.

Edmund de Waal joins this year's Erasmus Prize winner, AS Byatt, to talk about her life and writing.

Photography: C messier Licence details

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Event

Memory Work: Art, Restitution and Storytelling

Israel Museum, Jerusalem

6.30pm, 15 November 2016

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This November Edmund de Waal has been invited to give the keynote lecture for the Israel Museum's annual International Symposium on Collecting and Provenance. He will talk about the writing of The Hare with Amber Eyes, restitution and the history of lost collections.

This November Edmund de Waal has been invited to give the keynote lecture for the Israel Museum's annual International Symposium on Collecting and Provenance. He will talk about the writing of The Hare with Amber Eyes, restitution and the history of lost collections.

Photography: צילום:ד"ר אבישי טייכר, Licence details

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Event

Edmund de Waal honoured at Autumn Dinner

The Frick Collection, New York

17 November 2016

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Edmund de Waal will be in New York in November to be honoured at The Frick Collection Autumn Dinner. This annual event celebrates individuals who have contributed to arts and culture throughout the last year.

Edmund de Waal will be in New York in November to be honoured at The Frick Collection Autumn Dinner. This annual event celebrates individuals who have contributed to arts and culture throughout the last year.

Photography: Ajay Suresh Licence details

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Exhibition

Frieze London

Regent's Park, 6–9 October 2016

Frieze London 2016 Edmund De Waal Installation View A Gagosian

In his first solo exhibition for Gagosian gallery in London, Edmund de Waal showed ten new works at Frieze Art Fair. For this body of work, de Waal draws on memories and recollections in a series of elegies to the people and places most important him - his great-grandfather, the poet Paul Celan, Odessa, Czernowitz and Paris. And alongside porcelain vessels, de Waal introduced new materials to his vitrines, including graphite, silver and alabaster.

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Event

Chatsworth Festival

4.30pm, 24 September 2016

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Edmund de Waal will be talking at The Chatsworth Festival, Art Out Loud, a festival of talks by artists, curators and writers.

Edmund de Waal will be talking at The Chatsworth Festival, Art Out Loud, a festival of talks by artists, curators and writers.

Photography: Rob Bendall Licence details

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Exhibition

Seeing Round Corners

Turner Contemporary, Margate
21 May–25 September 2016

Littoral 2015 High Res Angle View News

Curated by David Ward, this exhibition at Turner Contemporary, Margate, explores the ways in which artists have used this universal and recurring form, and the very idea of ‘roundness’.

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Exhibition

Geffrye Museum

Geffrye Museum, London
Until September 2016

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Edmund de Waal’s piece and speech is currently on loan to the Geffrye Museum, London.

Edmund de Waal’s piece and speech is currently on loan to the Geffrye Museum, London.

Photography: Heather Cowper Licence details

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Exhibition

Irrkunst

Galerie Max Hetzler

29 April–16 July 2016

2016 Edmund De Waal Installation View Goethe 6 Photo Def Image

Edmund de Waal’s first solo show in Berlin is now open across the two gallery spaces of Galerie Max Hetzler in Charlottenburg. Based on the writings of Walter Benjamin, the exhibition title has been taken from his concept of the art of getting lost, the art of noticing what has been disregarded.

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Exhibition

Generosity: The Art of Giving

Kinský Palace, Prague

5 February–3 July 2016

Objects And Apparitions Iii Edmund De Waal 2012 Low Res Front On News

To celebrate the 220th anniversary of the National Gallery in Prague, Edmund de Waal will be loaning sixty-three netsuke from his personal collection to this special exhibition exploring generosity within its historical, poetical and social context.

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Event

Kelmscott Lecture for the William Morris Society

7.00pm, 13 September 2016

The William Morris Society Logo

‘I do not want art for a few’: Crafting Democracy

‘I do not want art for a few’: Crafting Democracy

At the heart of the arts and crafts movement is democracy, a crossing of boundaries between work and life. This talk will reflect on how craft is interdisciplinary and how William Morris continues to influence making, writing and talking about craft today.

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Event

Literaturhaus, Graz

7.00pm, 19 September 2016

Jacket Hanna Edited

Edmund de Waal will be delivering a lecture at the Literatur Haus, Graz, celebrating the launch of the German edition of The White Road.

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Exhibition

Found

Foundling Museum, London
27 May–4 September 2016

The Lost And The Found 01 News

For the Foundling Museum’s summer show, curated by Cornelia Parker and on the theme of ‘found’, Edmund de Waal is lending a piece made last year called the lost and the found.

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Event

In Conversation with Dr. Martin Roth

Akademie der Künste, Berlin
6.00pm, 1 July 2016

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Walter Benjamin, Memory and Berlin

Walter Benjamin, Memory and Berlin

Edmund de Waal will be in conversation with Dr. Martin Roth, director of the V&A, at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.

Photography: Jensens Licence details

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Event

Ledbury Poetry Festival

Ledbury Poetry Festival
1.30pm, 8 July 2016

Edmund de Waal colour studio 2015 Ben Mc Kee

Edmund de Waal will be talking with Mark Fisher at the Ledbury Poetry Festival about his Desert Island Poems: the poems that have mattered to him throughout his life.

Edmund de Waal will be talking with Mark Fisher at the Ledbury Poetry Festival about his Desert Island Poems: the poems that have mattered to him throughout his life.

Photography: Ben McKee

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Event

JW3 Speakers Series

The Alan Howard Foundation 
7 June 2016

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For his lecture On Homelessness Edmund de Waal talked about place and displacement in poetry and the visual arts, from the German emigre poet Paul Celan to his own work as an artist and writer.

For his lecture On Homelessness Edmund de Waal talked about place and displacement in poetry and the visual arts, from the German emigre poet Paul Celan to his own work as an artist and writer.

Photography: Ben McKee

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Exhibition

ten thousand things

Gagosian gallery, Beverly Hills
14 January–18 February 2016

DEWAA 2016 ten thousand things North Gallery A 1

At heart the heart of this exhibition with Gagosian, Beverly Hills, is a series of responses to the Schindler House, the revolutionary 1922 building by Viennese émigré architect, Rudolph Schindler, which was so influential on composer, theorist and writer, John Cage.

At heart the heart of this exhibition with Gagosian, Beverly Hills, is a series of responses to the Schindler House, the revolutionary 1922 building by Viennese émigré architect, Rudolph Schindler, which was so influential on composer, theorist and writer, John Cage.

Photography: Jeff Mclane, Courtesy Gagosian Gallery

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Award

Windham Campbell Prize

September 2015

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Edmund de Waal has been awarded the prestigious Windham Campbell prize for non-fiction for his memoir The Hare with Amber Eyes.

Edmund de Waal has been awarded the prestigious Windham Campbell prize for non-fiction for his memoir The Hare with Amber Eyes.

Photography: Ed Park

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Exhibition

White

Royal Academy of Arts
26 September 2015–3 January 2016

Edmund de Waal White Royal Academy

This unique project at the RA Library and Print Room sees Edmund de Waal explore the colour white and the impact that white objects have on their surroundings, through an interweaving of words and books with sculpture, paintings and photographs.

This unique project at the RA Library and Print Room sees Edmund de Waal explore the colour white and the impact that white objects have on their surroundings, through an interweaving of words and books with sculpture, paintings and photographs.

Photography: Mike Bruce

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Event

On White

Musical conversations between Aurora Orchestra and Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal On White Royal Academy

To mark the launch of white at the Royal Academy and the publication of The White Road, Edmund de Waal has collaborated with Aurora Orchestra to create a programme of events across London this Autumn, exploring the colour white through music, poetry and the visual arts.

To mark the launch of white at the Royal Academy and the publication of The White Road, Edmund de Waal has collaborated with Aurora Orchestra to create a programme of events across London this Autumn, exploring the colour white through music, poetry and the visual arts.

Photography: Mike Bruce

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Event

The British Art Lecture

Tate Britain, London
2 December 2015

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Edmund de Waal delivered the 2015 British Art Lecture at Tate Britain, London.

Edmund de Waal delivered the 2015 British Art Lecture at Tate Britain, London.

Photography: Anthony O'Neil, Licence details

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Book

Phaidon monograph book launch

Victoria & Albert Museum, London
20 May 2014

Edmund De Waal Book Archive 146 WEB

Phaidon has now published a monograph about Edmund de Waal's work and practice. The book is the most comprehensive survey of his career to date and features texts by Emma Crichton-Miller, AS Byatt, Colm Toibin and Peter Carey. To celebrate its publication, de Waal gave a talk at the Victoria and Albert Museum about how and why he started making ceramics, the influences of other makers on his work, and future projects he is working towards.

Phaidon has now published a monograph about Edmund de Waal's work and practice. The book is the most comprehensive survey of his career to date and features texts by Emma Crichton-Miller, AS Byatt, Colm Toibin and Peter Carey. To celebrate its publication, de Waal gave a talk at the Victoria and Albert Museum about how and why he started making ceramics, the influences of other makers on his work, and future projects he is working towards.

Photography: Edward Park

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Documentary

Make Pots or Die

BBC Imagine documentary
5 November 2013

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Following a year of filming with Alan Yentob, the Imagine documentary on Edmund de Waal's studio life and practice was broadcast on BBC One on 5th November. The film covers a remarkable year; from moving studios, travelling across Europe to research his next book, to sitting at his wheel and making thousands of vessels for his first major exhibition in the USA with Gagosian, New York.

Following a year of filming with Alan Yentob, the Imagine documentary on Edmund de Waal's studio life and practice was broadcast on BBC One on 5th November. The film covers a remarkable year; from moving studios, travelling across Europe to research his next book, to sitting at his wheel and making thousands of vessels for his first major exhibition in the USA with Gagosian, New York.

Photography: Ben McKee

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Event

Edmund de Waal on Tact

The School of Life
14 October 2012

Ed W portrait 7 bw Ben Mc Kee

Edmund de Waal delivered a secular sermon on the art of tact, at Conway Hall as part of The School of Life's Sunday Sermons series.

Edmund de Waal delivered a secular sermon on the art of tact, at Conway Hall as part of The School of Life's Sunday Sermons series.

Photography: Ben McKee

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