contemporary ceramics enter rhodes' historic monuments in the BCK biennale 2026

contemporary ceramics meet rhodes’ layered history in bck 2026

The second Biennale of Contemporary Keramics (BCK) brings 42 artists from 18 countries into the Medieval City of Rhodes, Greece, placing today’s ceramic practices inside archaeological and historic sites across the UNESCO World Heritage city. Curated by Stamatia Dimitrakopoulou, Loukia Thomopoulou, and Anissa Touati, Where the Day Starts runs through October 31st, 2026, with works presented across the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes, the Armoury de Milly, the Decorative Arts Collection of Rhodes, Our Lady of the Castle, and Kleovoulou Square at the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes. The Biennale positions the architecture, collections, and layered histories of the historic city as part of the context through which contemporary ceramics are encountered.

all images by Bill Stamatopoulos | @va.stamatopoulos

where the day starts: clay, light, and place

The exhibition takes Rhodes as its point of departure, drawing on the geography, light, and histories of the island. Its title, Where the Day Starts, refers to the idea of Rhodes as the easternmost edge of Greece and, within the Biennale’s framing, a place where the day begins. The Sun serves as the conceptual anchor for the 2026 edition, linking the different approaches to ceramics through an emphasis on place, perception, and transformation.

Across the five venues, works by emerging and established artists address themes including memory, identity, migration, and change. The range of practices also expands the idea of what contemporary ceramics can encompass, moving beyond the vessel and toward sculpture, installation, performance, and spatial interventions. The exhibition connects a material with a long history in the Mediterranean to artists working through questions of movement, belonging, and cultural memory.

The Medieval City of Rhodes contains archaeological collections and monuments shaped by different periods of the island’s history, and the Biennale places new ceramic works in direct proximity to this existing material culture. At the Archaeological Museum, for example, contemporary work shares space with collections that document earlier forms of making and use. Installations occupy historic buildings and public spaces, creating encounters between recent artistic production and an architecture whose original functions belong to another era.

Meriem Chabani x Gorbon Ceramics, A House Awaits, 2026, glazed brick, dimensions variable at Kleovoulos Square

honoring greece’s living ceramic tradition

The 2026 edition also acknowledges the connection between contemporary international practice and the existing ceramic culture of Greece. Tülay Kulbay received the Biennale’s First Prize, while Elysia Athanatos and Lynn Kodeih received Honorary Mentions. Lifetime contribution awards went to Kostas Neofytou of Rhodes and Menandros Papadopoulos of Athens. Neofytou was recognized for his longstanding contribution to Rhodian ceramics and its cultural identity, while Papadopoulos was honored for his artistic and teaching career and influence on generations of ceramic artists in Greece.

In Rhodes, the encounter between new ceramic practices and an existing landscape of monuments and collections becomes the central condition of the exhibition. The Biennale of Contemporary Keramics 2026 remains on view in the Medieval City of Rhodes through October 31st, 2026.

Green Flames Amphora, Lixnari Urn, Flourished Rays Amphora by Natalia Triantafylli

on view at the De Milly Armoury

combining ceramic elements with 3D-printed components generated from scans of her handmade clay forms

scanned clay forms are translated into 3D-printed elements, creating an uncanny meeting of handmade and synthetic materials

Ayla Tavares, Matéria Matéria

Etel Adnan, Parmi les tilleuls, 2021, ceramic, 163,7 x 208,4 cm

Luke Edward Hall, Lugh Plates I–VI, 2026, hand-painted ceramic

Asunción Molinos Gordo ¡Cuánto río allá arriba!

Alban Turquois, Cône 7 sous le soleil (Cone 7 under the sun), 2025, solar pyrography on earthenware, 190 x 37,5 x 5 cm

Zoë Paul’s Requiem to Throwing Water

on view at the Auberge de France in Rhodes

George Vavatsis, Landmarks, 2026, clay, porcelain, minerals, 85 x 100 x 600 cm

Vuslat, May We Meet in the Silence of Our Souls, clay installation, dimensions variable

David Scanavino, A Gift for Giovanni, 2026, fired stoneware, 234 x 35 x 35 cm. Supported by RISD.

referencing Mediterranean maritime routes and layers of cultural memory

project info:

name: Where the Day Starts, Biennale of Contemporary Keramics 2026 | @bckeramics

artists: Etel Adnan, Myrsini Alexandridi, Darien Arikoski-Johnson, Elysia Athanatos, Leonardo Bartolini, Elina Belou, Emmanouil Bonis, Robert Brambora, Jorge Cabieses-Valdes, Meriem Chabani – Gorbon Ceramics, Chous Ceramics, Katya Desnenko, Mauro Fariñas, Malek Gnaoui, Kyriaki Goni, Luke Edward Hall, Dionysis Kavallieratos, Lynn Kodeih, Tülay Kulbay, Vasiliki Kyriaki, Anne Kwasner, Lucile Littot, Lilian Lykiardopoulou, Atalanti Martinou, Fatima Mohisen, Asunción Molinos Gordo, Kostas Neofytou, Ben Wolf Noam, Menandros Papadopoulos, Zoë Paul, GianMarco Porru, Myrsini Roumelioti, David Scanavino, Terpsichori Savvala, Ayla Tavares, Natalia Triantafylli, Alban Turquois, Lucille Uhlrich, Elif Uras, Giorgos Vavatsis, Vuslat, Zoe Williams

curators: Stamatia Dimitrakopoulou, Loukia Thomopoulou, Anissa Touati

location: Medieval City of Rhodes, Greece

dates: June 6th – October 31st, 2026

venues: Archaeological Museum of Rhodes; Armoury de Milly; Decorative Arts Collection of Rhodes; Our Lady of the Castle; Kleovoulou Square at the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes

organizer: Big Blue Dot Biennale of Contemporary Keramics NPO

co-organizers: Region of South Aegean and Municipality of Rhodes