Current Exhibition

14th WESTERWALD PRIZE 2019
CERAMICS OF EUROPE

The Westerwald Prize was first created in 1973 by the then District Administrator
Dr. Norbert Heinen in order to present outstanding ceramic works within the
framework of a competition and an exhibition.
In addition, the Westerwald District was keen to promote the dialogue between
ceramics and art in the region.
Prime Minister Dr. Helmut Kohl took over the patronage of the first Westerwald
Prize, which at that time was not held in the Ceramics Museum, which was only
established in 1982, but in the administrative building of the Rastal company.

The great interest in the Prize and the geopolitical developments prompted
the Westerwald District in 1999 to no longer restrict the competition to Germany
but to offer it throughout Europe. By this decision the cultural exchange within
Europe was purposefully promoted.

For this 14th edition of the Westerwald Prize, 425 applications from all over Europe
were submitted online.
This year‘s jury consisted of the Berlin gallery owner and art collector Jörg Johnen,
the chief curator of the Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt am Main
Dr. Sabine Runde, the British artist Julian Stair as well as the former professor
of ceramics in North Carolina and Chicago and former director of the European
Ceramic Workcentre Xavier Toubes.
The District Administrator was represented by the managing director of the
Museen im Westerwald GmbH and the museum management.
In an anonymous pre-selection, the jury selected 48 artists with a total of 74 works.

With the First Prize worth 10,000 Euros an the Second Prize worth 6,000 Euros,
this competition is one of the highest awards for ceramics in Europe.
A Talent Prize of 3,000 Euros also supports those artists still studying or in training.
The Prize of the Town of Höhr-Grenzhausen for Saltfired Ceramics has been part of
the Westerwald Prize since 1992. This year, the town increased the prize money to
10,000 Euros, underlining its great interest in a contemporary artistic development
of the only glaze technique developed in Europe.

The patronage of this 14th edition of the Westerwald Prize was assumed by the
Minister for Science, Education and Culture of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate,
Prof. Dr. Konrad Wolf.

We would like to thank our sponsors:

Gasversorgung Westerwald GmbH, Hilgert
Firma Carl Jäger GmbH, Hilgert
Firma Rastal GmbH&Co.KG, Höhr-Grenzhausen
Stadt und Verbandsgemeinde Höhr-Grenzhausen
Sparkasse Westerwald-Sieg, Bad Marienberg
Westerwald Bank eG, Hachenburg