The 2026 Congress of the International Academy of Ceramics opened in the eastern Chinese city of Jingdezhen on Sunday, attracting international ceramic artists and experts to explore the theme of “Inheritance and Innovation.”
The Geneva-based International Academy of Ceramics (IAC) is holding the event in Jingdezhen, the ancient porcelain capital in east China’s Jiangxi Province, with a porcelain-making history spanning more than 1,700 years.
The event features a series of activities, including keynote speeches, academic seminars and international exhibitions. During the event, participants will discuss how to preserve tradition while opening new paths for creation, sustainability and technology.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Oriol Calvo Vergés, president of the IAC, highlighted the significance of the theme. “In recent decades, China has shown that ceramics can be much more than a heritage to be preserved. Ceramics can also be a powerful force for urban regeneration, education, tourism, innovation, industry, artistic creation and international dialogue,” he said.
He added that Jingdezhen is an exceptional place where heritage is visible everywhere, including in the kilns and workshops, while innovation thrives everywhere, for instance, in exhibitions and new creative districts.
Chen Kelong, secretary of the Jingdezhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, said the city is building itself into a national demonstration zone for the inheritance and innovation of ceramic culture.
Attendees said that Jingdezhen is captivating young enthusiasts from around the world with its openness and inclusiveness.
Chen also noted that Jingdezhen has established partnership ties with over 180 cities in more than 70 countries, while adding that artists and ceramists from over 50 countries and regions have come to this city to create and work.
Australian artist Fleur Schell told Xinhua that Jingdezhen’s scale and comprehensive ceramic industrial chain have drawn many of her friends and colleagues from Australia to work in the city. “It feels like anything is possible,” she said. “You could make anything in ceramics here.”
Donald Wayne Higby, an emeritus professor of ceramic art at Jingdezhen Ceramic University who first visited Jingdezhen in 1992, shared his deep affection for the city. “People used to call this ‘the city of porcelain,’ and I say it’s also ‘the city of possibility,'” Higby said.
“I have returned to Jingdezhen every year, sometimes even three or four times a year, since 1992,” he added. “I met young artists here who inspire me tremendously.”
Beyond individual inspiration, the artists also emphasize the role ceramics play in boosting international exchanges, serving as a “common language” that transcends cultural boundaries.
Pu Shouzhi, Party secretary of Jingdezhen Ceramic University, echoed this sentiment, noting that the event aims to connect the wisdom of the East and the West. “We look forward to using ceramic culture as a bridge to let the millennia-old porcelain charm transcend mountains and seas,” Pu said.
Since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), ceramics crafted in Jingdezhen have been exported to Central Asia, West Asia, Europe and Africa. Today, the city still retains its global appeal, drawing more than 5,000 ceramic enthusiasts from around the world at peak times.
“Let us remember the past, but let us also imagine the future,” said Vergés, adding that Jingdezhen reminds us that ceramics can carry memory, beauty, identity and hope across centuries.