Since its founding in 2004, the Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, organized by the New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum, has brought together international contemporary ceramic works for exhibition in Taiwan. Over the years, it has become one of the most significant events in the international ceramics field and the largest ceramics exhibition project in Taiwan. Since 2010, the exhibition has alternated its format featuring either a “curatorial competition” or an “artwork competition” each edition.
Every four years, during the curated edition, the Biennale invites international curators with backgrounds in contemporary art or ceramic culture to propose perspectives and conceptual frameworks, challenge boundaries, explore uncharted or overlooked territories, and create platforms for open and diverse dialogue. Through this process, ceramic artists from around the world are brought together to speak in unison, positioning Yingge as a vital hub for international ceramic exchange and a focal point from which creative ripples spread outward.
The first curated edition “Korero: International Ceramics in Conversation" (2010) was organized by New Zealand curator Moyra Elliott, presenting dialogues between ceramics and various aspects of contemporary life. "Terra Nova: Critical Currents, Contemporary Ceramics" (2014), organized by South African curator Wendy Gers, which examined local ceramic traditions while showcasing recycled ceramic practices and emerging trends that integrate contemporary ceramics with technology. In 2018, Taiwanese curator Shao Ting-Ju presented “Humanistic Return: The Spiritual Origin of Ceramic Art" (2018) exploring the intrinsic connection between humans and land and the relationship between artistic creation and societal change. In 2022, amid unprecedented global challenges brought about by the pandemic, the Biennale reflected on the role of museums, the original intent of the Biennale, and the current state of contemporary ceramics, considering how ceramic art continues to interact with and influence human civilization.
After four curated editions and eight years of dialogue and exchange, the 2026 Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, standing at the threshold of the third decade of the 21st century, turns toward a calm yet profound inquiry: how will ceramics present its future potential in the evolving landscape of global artistic creation?
Through a curatorial proposal process and with the unanimous decision of the selection committee, Daicho Tomohiro (Japan) has been appointed as curator of the 2026 edition. Titled “When Humans Meet the Earth,” the exhibition explores human experience through contemporary ceramic expression, focusing on the fundamental connection between humanity and the land. Born of the earth and refined by fire, ceramics carry the traces and imagination of human civilization. In today’s context of sustainability, this ancient yet contemporary form of artistic expression invites renewed reflection on human creativity.
Daicho Tomohiro is currently Chief Curator at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. He holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Kyoto City University of Arts and specializes in the history of modern ceramics. His major curated exhibitions include Nino Caruso, Giant of Contemporary Italian Ceramics (2020), The Sodeisha Group; An Era Born Out of Ceramics (2023), and Kuroda Tatsuaki: A Journey Through Wood, Lacquer, and Mother-of-Pearl (2024). He brings extensive international perspective and deep professional expertise to the curatorial role.
The 2026 Taiwan Ceramics Biennale will be co-curated by Daicho Tomohiro and the Yingge Ceramics Museum, with an Exhibition Committee composed of seven experts and scholars: Chang Chi-Wen, Liou Chen-Chou, Ava Hsueh, Shao Ting-Ju, Chang Ching-Yuan, Liu Chun-Lan, and Wang Yi-Hui. The curatorial framework will explore four sub-themes: “The Earth- Landscape,” “Cycle of Life- Life, Fertility and Death,” “The Spiritual World - Myths and Tales,” and “Artificial – Urbanism and Civilization” Through these four themes, the exhibition traces humanity’s encounters with the earth and the ways in which life unfolds upon it. Ceramics are presented as a contemporary articulation of cultural and civilizational formation, allowing the full spectrum of human activity—its history, techniques, and spirit—to re-emerge and be understood within the language of clay.
In the summer of 2026, audiences are invited to enter the world of ceramic art and experience the warmth and power of earth.
Upcoming exhibition
2026 Taiwan Ceramics Biennale
Period : 2026.07.31 – 2026.12.27
Venue : 3F Special Exhibition Rooms
Curator : Daicho Tomohiro
Executioner | Yingge Ceramics Museum and the exhibition committee
