Attend Polish Pottery Festival, Bolesławiec

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The Bolesławiec Pottery Festival is an interactive artistic event whose aim is to promote pottery and Bolesławiec area. During the festival, which will be organised for the 22nd time, there will be one of the biggest European fairs with original works of art on sale held. The audience will be able to see open-air pottery kilns built according to the designs of renowned pottery artists and observe the kilning process. In the Pottery Animation Town everyone will be able to take part in making different objects from clay, using a potter’s wheel as well as forming and painting pottery items under the supervision of pottery masters. The town of Bolesławiec and its satellite communes Nowogrodziec, Ołdrzychów, and Bolesławice have a long ceramic history. The pottery is identified with the German name for the town: Bunzlau. Bunzlauer ware (Ceramika bolesławiecka) evolved from a folk tradition into a distinct ceramic category distinguishable by form, fabric, glaze, and decoration. The term "Bunzlauer ware" may also be used to describe stylistically-related pottery produced in the neighboring districts of Lusatia and Saxony. Taken as a whole, Bunzlauer ware ranks among the most important folk pottery traditions in Europe. The area around Bunzlau is rich in clays suited to the potter's wheel. Typically, utilitarian Bunzlauer pottery was turned on a kick wheel, dried leather-hard, dipped in a slip glazeand then burnt in a rectangular, cross-draft kiln. Although fired at temperatures of up to 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit (1,320 °C) and often classified as stoneware, the clay actually does not vitrify and Bunzlauer pottery is better categorized as high-fired earthenware. In order to make their pottery watertight, Bunzlauer potters applied a coating of liquid clay, or slip. When fired, the slip glaze varied from a chocolate to dark brown. Since the fabric of Bunzlauer ware retains some porosity, the pottery conveniently has been suited for cooking over an open fire or for baking in an oven, as well as for storage.

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