THE POTTER’S MIRROR

Burrell Collection, Glasgow 2005. The Potter’s Mirror exhibition was the culmination of a six month artist’s residency focussed on the Iznik ceramics collection at the Burrell. During the residency, history, cultural contexts, forms and techniques of Iznik cermaics were studied, and under the guidance of the curator of Islamic collections Noorah Al Gailani, the rich Sufi imagery contained within the pieces.

Texts examined include the 12th century Persian poem “The Conference of the Birds” by Farid ud-Din Attar and the Risale-i Mimariyye, an early-seventeenth-century Ottoman treatise on architecture by Ca'fer Efend. The Burrell Residency featured on BBC Radio Scotland, “Zarieh”, broadcast 29 May 2005.

Several new works were made during the course of the residency, and a series of photographs following the changing seasons in Pollok Park, the site of the Burrell Collection. The residency also involved curating the exhibition on site at the Burrell Collection, and devising a variety of taylored community workshops. These took place over the course of the residency as well alongside the exhibition and are detailed in the gallery education section of this website.

The Iznik Ceramics artist residency was supported by Glasgow City Council Cultural and Leisure Services, and the Scottish Arts Council.