Garland magazine

12/01/2026

Shirobey Kobayashi: A potter of all trades

Liliana Morais profiles master wood-firer Shirobey Kobayashi, who embraces risk and unpredictability in his ceramics as a path to a self-sufficient and creative life.
https://garlandmag.com/article/shirobey-kobayashi/

✿ Excerpts:

This process, known as *yakishime*, fuses clay, flame, and chance. “Wood-firing is like a gamble,” he says. “You can get amazing results or uninteresting ones — but pottery has to have an impact.”

Shirobey fires primarily with red pine (*akamatsu*), long favored in pottery regions such as Bizen for its oil-rich body and long, steady burn. Its high iron content produces vivid green, yellow, and sometimes blue ash deposits on the surface of pots,

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Read more in G41 ✿ Begin Again

08/01/2026

Can we be reborn without dying?

Maria Fernanda Paes de Barros recounts how visiting the Pataxó territory fostered her transformation by offering her an Indigenous perspective on Brazil's colonial history.
https://garlandmag.com/article/can-we-be-reborn-without-dying/

✿ Excerpts:

Maria Fernanda Paes de Barros recounts how visiting the Pataxó territory fostered her transformation by offering her an Indigenous perspective on Brazil’s colonial history.

> “I felt your soul, you have good energy. You can come, I know nothing bad will happen.”
Two weeks later, I arrived at Porto Seguro airport, and Arassari was waiting for me outside with his niece, Rayara, and his nephew, Caxi. It took us two hours to enter the Pataxó Territory

At that moment, a part of me began to die without me even realising it. It was the beginning of intense days that shattered my naiveté regarding what I had been taught in school and which I had believed to be true all my life.

I walked along the white sand beach where the first Catholic mass in Brazil was celebrated, and I heard, through Arassari’s words, the voice of all his ancestors telling me what that encounter truly was like.

I was reborn. Much more Brazilian than I’ve ever been, much more attentive to silenced stories, and determined to share those stories so that others, too, can experience a similar rebirth.

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07/01/2026

Conversations across time: Pim Sudhikam's clay dialogue with the Baan Kao people

Pim Sudhikam explores the bond between maker and place by remaking ancient Thai vessels from contemporary excavation clay, realigning history with the modern urban setting.
https://garlandmag.com/article/pim-sudhikams-clay-dialogue/

✿ Excerpts:

The Baan Kao artefacts are 4,000 years old, yet are made from the same fertile, clay-rich land on which the modern urban Thai capital is grounded. Pim Sudhikam combines a recreation of ancient three-legged pots with contemporary forms, suggesting the mechanical assembly of industrial gears—all from the same unchanging clay.

For me to make hand-made, industrial-looking objects is to emphasise my desire to make things.

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Read more in G41 ✿ Begin Again

06/01/2026

The Ripple Effect: A clay response to Żelazny Most

Alicja Patanowska creates an arresting art installation in the V&A Museum's garden by transforming 2,000 unique ceramic pieces made from the waste of Europe’s largest copper mine into a profound reflection on environmental damage and material care.
https://garlandmag.com/article/the-ripple-effect/

✿ Excerpts:

In *The Ripple Effect,* Alicja Patanowska presents an uncannily beautiful reflection of the environmental waste caused by Poland’s most damaging copper mine.

The collected waste was first dried and cleaned of any mechanical impurities, then ground to achieve a particle size suitable for ceramic processing.

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05/01/2026

AlaCraft 2025: Steeped in Steppe culture

Vicki Mason wanders through the hidden workshops of Almaty, tracing the silver threads and ancient talons that weave Kazakhstan’s nomadic heritage into contemporary jewellery.
https://garlandmag.com/article/alacraft/


Aizhan Tlenbekova, Felt Master’s Belt, 2025, 925 sterling silver, turquoise and coral, leather, and handmade felt elements. Belt: length 95 cm, width 6 cm. Scissor pouch: length 25 cm, width 9 cm. Needle pouch: length 10 cm, diameter 5 cm.

Dulat Ashimov, Kozhe, 2020, ring in agate, acrylic, 8 x 6 cm, photo: Kamilla Barysbekova

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Contemporary art jewellery is somewhat new to the country. There are no specialist galleries from what I could see, and Dulat said a market for art jewellery doesn’t exist as yet. This will no doubt change as the Syldyr initiative gains momentum, a project pioneered by Zhanna Assanova with the goal of bringing contemporary art jewellery to Kazakh audiences. One of her exhibitions was featured recently in an article by Elena Karpilova on Art Jewelry Forum’s website and listed Kazakh makers working with contemporary themes, while also outlining the history and development of modern jewellery in this fascinating country. It was interesting to read of only one jeweller having studied outside the country, something echoed in the conversations with my new friends. Both Dulat and Aizhan Tlenbekova talked about the fact that they often learn from one another, sharing techniques and skills, and hosting each other in their own workshops.

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Find out more in Garland Loop ✿

04/01/2026

A piece of earth for holding

Benita Laylim documents her ceramic research by connecting four Sydney sites—Kurnell, East Hills, Redfern, and Malabar—to Indigenous philosophies of land-entanglement and colonial history.
https://garlandmag.com/article/a-piece-of-earth-for-holding-reflections-on-making-with-local-clays/

✿ Excerpts:

Benita Laylim documents her ceramic research by connecting four Sydney sites—Kurnell, East Hills, Redfern, and Malabar—to Indigenous philosophies of land-entanglement and colonial history.

Using found clay from four Sydney sites—Kurnell, East Hills, Redfern, and Malabar— I created works that integrate elements of place, considering the layered histories embedded in each location.

When I visited on a hot, windy day, Kamay National Park was quiet. At the landing site, a 1870 sandstone obelisk dedicated to Cook faces *The Eyes of the Land and the Sea* (2020), a sculpture that alludes to both Cook’s ship and the bones of the Gweagal whale totem. Behind it, Botany Bay glittered with industry: cranes (not the bird variety), dredges, and stacked shipping containers.

The clay I collected was grey in its raw state, but when fired, it took on a soft, peachy tone. From it, I built a shrine on which I depicted four extinct plants: *Musa fitzalani* (Daintree river banana), *Caladenia brachyscapa* (short spider orchid), *Solanum bauerianum* (bridal flower), and *Pultenaea maidenii* (Maiden’s bush pea).

Indigenous thinker Tyson Yunkaporta writes that aligning oneself with the patterns and flows of land—“to be like your place”—brings balance and wholeness.

Without sunlight, the site now seemed dull, but as I stepped inside, my boots stuck to the ground. Clay! I gathered chunks and carried them to my car, getting soaked in the process.

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02/01/2026

Jooyun Lim ✿ A Korean ceramics journey to Queensland granite country
Pamela See invites us to explore how ceramic artist Jooyun Lim navigates the rugged terrain and rich cultural history of regional Queensland through her exhibition, Forest.

Pamela See invites us to explore how ceramic artist Jooyun Lim navigates the rugged terrain and rich cultural history of Regional Queensland through her exhibition, Forest.

30/12/2025

Reperceiving the world: The body as a field of thought in modern Japanese craft

Yuji Akimoto presents Skin and Viscera, an exhibition at Tainan Art Museum featuring ten Japanese female artists who employ the body as a medium for profound thought.
https://garlandmag.com/article/skin-and-viscera/

Find out more in Garland Loop ✿ .museum

23/12/2025

You touched my life

Vivian Qiu shares the story of her ongoing Life Line Braid, a growing piece of wearable textile art that serves as a tactile journal documenting her personal journey, emotions, and life philosophy.
https://garlandmag.com/article/you-touched-my-life/

✿ Excerpts:

Wherever I travel, I bring my Life Line Braid with me. It has slowly become a bigger and heavier yarn ball after more than two years of braiding. It’s still growing—like a living thing in itself.

I’d sit by the lake, watching local Swedish families lying aimlessly under the sun. Or I’d hop on the next bus and head somewhere without a destination in mind. Mindfulness or mindlessness? When I’m braiding, do I feel my mind? Is my mind full of thoughts, past and future? Or is my mind absent, simply focused on the twisted wool yarn I’m playing with between my fingers?

Here, you were confused by why I suddenly changed my appearance. You were deeply troubled by your default beliefs about what is right and what is wrong. But luckily, you were quick to understand what I wanted you to unlearn.

I could hear the braid responding to my silent questions about life and challenges, or echoing and confirming my thoughts back to me.

Sometimes, while braiding, I don’t fully understand what I’m experiencing. It may take two years, or even ten, for me to look back and finally grasp the meaning behind certain life situations. The braid serves as a personal journal, helping me process complex emotions.

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22/12/2025

Kindred spirits: Reconfiguring free-time hand-weaving

Rosa Tolnov Clausen details the rediscovery of Meta Rosenberg’s portable Tønder Loom Frame, an enduring tool that keeps the ancient art of hand-weaving perpetually relevant and accessible for modern life.
https://garlandmag.com/article/free-time-hand-weaving/

✿ Excerpts:

the simplicity of the rigid heddle loom frame suddenly made it very easy to take up weaving, even with no prior experience.

a backpack was designed to conveniently carry Tønder Væveramme.

The Danish government put a special emphasis on evening courses that would revive old Danish crafts, including hand-weaving.

In 2017, I initiated the project Weaving Kiosk. I wanted to spark an interest in hand-weaving with a younger generation in the Nordic countries.

the Weaving Kiosk is not a course, nor is the host a teacher. Weavers can ask for help if they need and want, and they can stay for as long as they would like. My Kiosks are often open in the evening and weekends, outside “normal” working hours.

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Read more in G41 ✿ Begin Again

19/12/2025

Chasing the loom: The quiet revolution of the TC2

Jane Burns charts her global pursuit of the TC2 Jacquard loom, a technology that refreshes the tradition of handwoven tapestry through digital image integration.
https://garlandmag.com/article/tc2/

✿ Excerpts:

the TC2 Jacquard loom—a computer-controlled, manually operated handloom.

In 2025, I travelled to the historical centre of European tapestry in Aubusson, France, to work at [Lainamac](https://www.lainamac.fr/), a centre for wool excellence with a TC2 studio.

Perseverance is necessary in weaving, and each day I repaired breaks and continued to weave the series, *Stubborn Tangles*. The work shows the body in protest in the act of locking on, to explore collective action, resistance, and our entangled interdependence as a species.

In the decade before the first TC1 was sold in 1995, the original vision and development of the loom came from artist-weaver Vibeke Vestby, who was driven to speed up the process from idea to woven fabric and had done extensive research on computer applications in handweaving.

Jane Burns, Movement (Arrest 5) 2024, 150 x 130 x 4cm_Flax, cotton, recycled lurex. Photo: Christian Capurro
Jane Burns, Movement (Arrest 5) 2024, 150 x 130 x 4cm_Flax, cotton, recycled lurex. Photo: Christian Capurro
Jane Burns, Stubborn Tangles (Lock On 1) (detail), 2025, Tencel, flax, wool, recycled lurex, 150 x 123 x 4 cm. Photo: Jane Burns

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Read more in G41 ✿ Begin Again

18/12/2025

If Only We Could Bury Our City

Lara Salous honours the sustained creation of Majdalawi fabric by weaver Hussam Zaqout, who rebuilds the tradition after repeated forced displacement and erasure.
https://garlandmag.com/article/if-only-we-could-bury-our-city/

✿ Excerpts:

Majdalawi is a form of woven fabric that originates in the village of al-Majdal, which was uprooted in the Nakba of 1948. It is mostly with a base of black or indigo cotton threads, accented by prominent bands of fuchsia and turquoise silk. Fabrics from the city had poetic names, like *Janneh* *u nar* (“heaven and hell”) and *nasheq rohoh* (“breath of the soul”).

After 1948, the weavers were displaced to the Gaza Strip. Sadly, many weaving workshops and looms were destroyed by Israeli airstrikes. Weavers have also been displaced many times.

Despite the harshness of displacement, Mr Hossam Zaqout later managed to evacuate to the Arab Republic of Egypt, where he began once again from scratch — establishing a small workshop and rebuilding the Majdalawi loom with his own hands and determination.

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Read more in G41 ✿ Begin Again