Running alongside our current exhibition ‘Lucie Rie: The Adventure of Pottery’, the Clore Learning Studio will be transforming into a Button Workshop for 5 weeks this spring, inspired by Lucie Rie’s button making.
Lucie Rie and Buttons
Lucie Rie was born in Vienna in 1902 and trained as a potter. In 1938 she was forced to leave Vienna due to the rise of anti-semitism and fled to London. During the war, unable to secure a license to make pots, she turned to making ceramic buttons for the fashion industry, experimenting with miniature forms and new glazes in the process. Rie’s buttons became a part of her practice, and some are on show in the exhibition at Kettle’s Yard.
Lucie Rie’s buttons are artworks in their own right. She experimented with different glazes and shapes, which would later inform her beautiful bowls and vessels.
The Button Workshop, which has been supported by LOEWE Foundation, will be a creative space where you can have a go at button making, meet contemporary potters and learn more about the process of making buttons.
Get Involved
Every weekend The Button Workshop will be open for you to drop in and have a go at the button making process.
On Saturdays you will be able to meet a contemporary potter in our Clore Learning Studio as they show you how they make their pots on the potter’s wheel.
During school holidays there will also be special children and adult workshops inspired by ceramics and button making.
Gallery
The Button Workshop is supported by LOEWE Foundation.
Lucie Rie: The Adventure of Pottery is organised by Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge and MIMA, part of Teesside University, in association with The Holburne Museum, Bath.
This exhibition is supported by the AKO Foundation. Lead exhibition sponsor is Offer Waterman.
