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Wild Clay Project: an in-depth collaboration between AKI ArtEZ, Atelier NL, and Rijksmuseum Twenthe

  • Fine Art
  • Design

Students from the AKI ArtEZ Academy of Art & Design in Enschede, delved beneath the surface of the Twente landscape in search of clay, which they then processed further as part of the Wild Clay Project. During a workshop, students worked with their self-extracted clay, pondering questions such as: what can local resources teach us about the area? How can understanding the origin of these materials help us use them more wisely?

Wild Clay Project: an in-depth collaboration between AKI ArtEZ, Atelier NL, and Rijksmuseum Twenthe

Atelier NL

The workshop was led by instructors from AKI's ceramics workshop and the renowned Atelier NL design studio from Eindhoven. Atelier NL works with local materials like clay and sand, viewing design as a means to restore the connection between humans and their environment.

Digging, Sifting, and Processing

The clay was excavated from the Aamsveen, in a 'clay pot' provided by Landschap Overijssel. The theme of the project week was 'abundance and scarcity'. Because students had to dig, sift, and process the material themselves, this theme became very tangible. Each piece of clay was carefully preserved; after all, it had taken days of work before this piece of clay became usable. The assignment for the students was then to create a 'dinner for two' in pairs.

Because the students were so intimately involved in processing their own material, the results became deeply connected with the process and the making. The care with which the clay was handled is also reflected in the results of the students."
Ceramics Workshop Assistant Julia van Eijden

Exhibition at Rijksmuseum Twenthe

The culmination of the project is an exhibition at the Rijksmuseum Twenthe, running from May 18th to June 16th, 2024. Here, not only the end result is displayed, but also the process leading up to it. More information can be found here.

The Wild Clay project was realized with the cooperation of: Atelier NL (Nadine Sterk and Lonny van Ryswyck), AKI ArtEZ Academy of Art & Design (Lola Bezemer, Julia van Eijden, Erik Kok), Rijksmuseum Twenthe (Josien Beltman), KunstenLandschap (Paul Hajenius).