Photography by Marie Flarup Kristensen
During the months of May and June Art at Sjaelsmark organised a series of workshops at the asylum centers Sjælsmark and Avnstrup. We made clay and ceramic plates as part of the social art project ‘CERAMICS FOR TEA AND DIALOGUE’.
– Encouraging dialogue through a universal act of generousity
CERAMICS FOR TEA AND DIALOGUE is a social art project at Sjælsmark and Avnstrup (2021-). Residents at Sjælsmark and Avnstrup participate in collective clay workshops and create a series of unique ceramic plates – or teapot stands. The participants keep the ceramic works or they can choose to donate them to the project if they wish. The teapot stands are exhibited and are subsequently given to individuals to encourage their work for human rights.
Each piece is as unique as the person who created it. It tells its own story in images, colours and gestures. The idea behind these beautiful ceramic works is to encourage conversations that focus on improving the rights of migrants and refugees in Denmark and globally. It is imperative that we treat migrants and refugees with human dignity and that we work to achieve justice for all.
Serving a cup of tea is a universal act of generosity. We encourage everyone who has one of these special teapot stands to invite a guest for tea and dialogue towards achieving dignified and human solutions. We believe that communication is the way forward and that aesthetic, artistic and moral values are important elements in this process.
CERAMICS FOR TEA AND DIALOGUE is supported by Grosserer L. F. Foghts Fond, Toyota-Fonden and Silica Nordic. The project is organised by Art at Sjælsmark with artists Tine Hecht-Pedersen, Hanne Ravn Hermansen, Tine Jakobsen, Gitte Ladegaard, Tina Kallehave, Marie Flarup Kristensen and Karen Land Hansen, working together with the Red Cross. Thanks also to staff at Sjælsmark and Avnstrup, Mette Ussing, Eoin Mac Lochlainn, Margrethe Auken, Else Marie Bukdahl, Red Barnet Ungdom.