The must-see artists at the British Ceramics Biennial 2025

British Ceramics Biennial is back and better than ever. Running until 19 October 2025, the dynamic programme of free exhibitions, screenings, talks and events is proving a hit with both locals and critics…and just an hour and a half’s train away from London, it’s well worth a day trip. Hot on the heels of Stoke-on-Trent becoming a World Craft City, and in the year that the city celebrates its centenary, BCB 2025 has taken over Spode Works – the post-industrial site of the original Spode factory, which was at the heart of the Potteries ceramics industry for more than two centuries. Spotlighting leading contemporary ceramic artists alongside fresh new talentfrom around the world, BCB is at the same time celebrating Stoke-on-Trent’s rich industrial heritage and creative spirit, in the very heart of the Potteries.

If you can spare a long weekend – and hear me out – there is a lot going on in this under-appreciated region. Close to the Staffordshire/Cheshire/Shropshire border, with Wales to the West and the Peak District to the East, Stoke-on-Trent is uniquely positioned for both culture and nature. Luxury retreat hotels and world class restaurants are not hard to come by in the area, so you could very easily craft your perfect, varied weekend. More on this to come. For now, here are our top picks from this year’s Biennial…

British Ceramics Biennial 2023, Photo Fabio De Paola PA Wire 

(NOT) GUILTY PLEASURES

Jo Taylor

Just announced as the Winner of the £10,000 BCB Award Prize 2025, Jo Taylor was selected for her Bridgerton-inspired series of eight large-scale sculptural vessels that distil the essence of Rococo through the use of curves, ornament, asymmetry and theatricality. Altogether, this is an unapologetic celebration of opulence and colour reminiscent of the attire, decorations and events of the Regency era. At the same time, curated side by side, the sculptures appear to be in clandestine conversation, silently reveling in their secrets like earthenware gossips, frozen in time.

Jo Taylor, (Not) Guilty Pleasures 2025, photograph Jenny Harper

RARE EARTH RISING

Mella Shaw

Winner of the BCB Award Prize 2023, Mella Shaw returns to draw attention to the urgent issue of mineral depletion and deep seabed mining. The kinetic installation comprising two large hand-built structures and dramatic lighting explores the ethics and impact of harvesting polymetallic nodules and its devastating effect on marine life and carbon absorption. The forms utilise lithium, cobalt, manganese and copper, all materials that – as well as being central to this debate – also have a long history in ceramics. Mella’s work asks us if this is the treasure it first appears to be – or are we sleep-walking into another climate catastrophe?

Image credit Tani Burns

THE CHIMNEY PRINCESS

Josie KO

For the People & Place Commission, Josie KO explores the importance of diversity in Stoke-on-Trent. Inspired by the city’s iconic bottle kilns, Josie has created a new goddess for the city. The ceramic figure of a Black woman here represents the visibility of all POC communities and the immersive installation has been produced in collaboration with local groups drawing upon their varied backgrounds to highlight the diversity of the city.

Josie KO for 'gorma’ installation at Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Art, 2024, photo Eoin Carey

CHALLENGING TERRAIN

Kyra Cane

Challenging Terrain compares the relationships and tension points found between maker and material to those between people and the environment. Using the familiar domestic form of the bowl, Kyra introduces purposeful stresses to make evident forces and near-breaking points in the making process.

Image credit Tani Burns

RAVERINA’S DANCE FLOOR

Caroline Garfo

Portuguese artist Carolina Garfo presents a sensory artwork exploring the intersection between sound and ceramics. Realising a scene from the artist’s fictional film Raverina(2023), the installation brings together vernacular construction techniques, the rainfall cycle and traditional rituals. Raverina’s Dance Floor is a collaboration between Carolina and Sérgio Cachibache.

Image credit Jenny Harper

IT WAS LOST IN THE MOVE

Leah Jensen

It was Lost in the Move explores the anxieties of housing insecurity. An unsettling collection of terracotta artefacts associated with the moving process, a paint pot, a dustpan and brush, draws upon Leah’s experience in 21 different living situations whilst also considering the larger impact that housing shortage has on society. Symbolic items have also been created in clay, such as various empty picture frames, left on the floor unhung to represent the reticence to feel too ‘at home,’ and several empty clay tortoise shells.

Image credit Tani Burns

BROTHER’S HORN

Majid Asadi (Iran)

Part of Clay Films, this tale of sibling rivalry set in a pottery studio is at once darkly humorous and completely compelling. From resentment, to smashed bowls, to a slapping match, to murder, the film sees two brothers lock horns on who rules the studio. Clay Films is a new strand of British Ceramics Biennial created to reflect the range of ways that artists work with clay, in this context showcasing the high quality of artist film work being made, an area of practice which has to date received limited exposure. Following an open submission opportunity for Global Majority artists of African and Caribbean heritage based anywhere in the world, six artists were selected from over 200 entries by a panel of film experts, artists and curators.

Majid Asadi, Brother’s Horn