The Ceramic Guild of Southwest Finland
The Ceramic Guild of Southwest Finland is an association founded in 2005 to bring together professional ceramists working in the region. Membership criteria is a degree in ceramics or a professional activity in the field. The aim of the association is to support cooperation between members, train and learn together and organise different kinds of events around ceramics. Members come from all over Southwest Finland. Currently there are 27 members, and among members there are those with decades of career experience as well as recent graduates.
The association has organised a ceramics and glass fair at Vähätori in Turku (2011-14) and smaller exhibitions and art projects (e.g. ITU-IN-SITU 2020). A major project in 2014-16 was the construction of a wood kiln and canopy in Koroinen, Turku. The wood firing process is a multi-stage process and takes three days. In addition to the results of the burning, it is important for the guild members to work together and meet other guild members. The kiln is in active use and other special firings can be done under the canopy, e.g. raku firings. Welcome to follow the firings at Koroinen! The guild works in cooperation with the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at Åbo Akademi in research and education on glazes and wood-fired ceramics. The cooperation started in 2017. Autumn 2022 a course was held at the open university and more courses will come.