St. Stanislaus Convent, Baltimore

A comprehensive exhibition of clay art from fifteen former East Bloc countries. According to curator Jimmy Clark, "the inescapable common denominator was the Socialist State, at one and the same time the artist's benefactor and nemesis." The pieces were created during times of enormous social and political upheaval, when raw materials were hard to find and kilns were unavailable. Experimenting with firings, altering industrial materials, and sometimes working with found objects on a scale unusual for ceramic arts, they invented a new range of possibilities for clay art. Presented in collaboration with Baltimore Clayworks and the Maryland Institute, College of Art in a former Polish convent, the exhibition included 173 works by 74 artists. Artist residency program initiated to facilitate project development (2 months in duration).

Artists included in the exhibition: Czeslaw Podlesny, Jindra Vikova.