EXHIBITION OF THE 20TH INTERNATIONAL CERMAICS COMPETITION OF CAROUGE – Carouge Museum – Switzerland

•   From September 19 to November 29, 2026

•   Opening Reception & Award Ceremony: Saturday, September 19, 2026, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

The 20th edition of the International Ceramics Competition of the City of Carouge explores the theme of movement. From September 19 to November 29, 2026, the Musée de Carouge will host the exhibition of the selected artworks.

This anniversary edition has generated unprecedented enthusiasm: 836 applications from 63 countries were submitted to the jury. Among them, only 38 artworks were selected for the exhibition, representing 18 different nationalities. This cultural richness is reflected in bold and profoundly unique proposals, where movement is expressed in all its forms: figurative, abstract, or conceptual.

Florence Lemiegre is deeply honored to be among the selected artists. She shares here the keys to the creative process behind her artwork: “La Noli me tangere Pistils Cocoon”

“La Noli me tangere Pistils Cocoon” belongs to my Noli me tangere universe and initiates a dialogue centered on biodiversity, fragility, and the decline of ocean health. Through intertwined drapes, plant-like, and organic forms evoking coral and finely chiseled lace, I constrain the material and push it to its very extremes. In this quasi-traumatic state, the clay gradually accepts the imposed transformations. The process unfolds, and the sculpture finds its equilibrium. Its corolla is adorned with flowers and mobile pistils whose vibrations and oscillations evoke sensory exchanges from the depths of the sea. Like an inner song, the piece whispers an oceanic melody made of imperceptible breaths. It comes to life.”

Contemporary Ceramics: A Medium in Perpetual Becoming

An ancestral material, clay has accompanied humanity since prehistory. Today, contemporary ceramics reach far beyond the boundaries of fine craft traditions to explore new territories of expression.

Movement appears there not only as a subject of study but as a true creative principle. Inscribed directly into the artist’s gesture, it guides the transformation of the clay and the production process. The works thus translate momentum, tension, fluidity, or vibration, giving the striking illusion of a material that is always in the making.

Embodying Movement: From Trace to Experience

Throughout all the proposals of the biennale, movement reveals itself less as a visible action than as an underlying force traversing material, time, and gaze. Although frozen within the object, it pulses as a trace, a memory, or a tension.

Numerous artistic approaches explore movement through the lens of transformation—whether natural, organic, or linked to the metamorphoses of the material itself. Others fully integrate the perception and experience of the audience, whose gaze or action becomes necessary to activate, reveal, and prolong the animation of the piece.

Between rhythms, repetitions, unstable balances, and invisible forces, these works question movement in all its plurality. They do not merely represent it: they embody it, suggest it, or invite the viewer to experience it, on the borderline between physical reality, sensory perception, and the imaginary. This exploration also reveals another facet of ceramics: far from being limited to utilitarian objects, it asserts itself here as a powerful and contemporary artistic medium.

A Committed and Prestigious Competition

This competition is part of the museum’s broader mission: to promote applied arts, encourage the transmission of savoir-faire, and maintain a living dialogue between heritage and contemporary creation.

The event will feature five prizes ranging from 500 to 10,000 Swiss francs. The three jury prizes will be announced during the opening reception on Saturday, September 19, 2026. The public will also have the opportunity to vote for their favorite artwork, determining two additional distinctions: the Public Prize and the Schools Prize, which will be revealed on Saturday, November 14, 2026.

A comprehensive exhibition catalogue accompanies the show, offering access to the explanations, reflections, and creative processes of all selected artists.

2026 Jury Members:

• Isabelle Naef Galuba: Honorary Director of the Ariana Museum and Representative of the Fondation Bruckner – Centre céramique. Sébastien Schnyder: Ceramist-plastician.
• Laure Schwartz-Arenales: Director of the Fondation Baur (Museum of Far Eastern Arts).
• Valérie Alonso-Mauron: Ceramicist, in charge of the ceramics section at the Vevey Vocational Education Center, School of Applied Arts, and Representative of the Swiss Ceramic Association (swissceramics)
• Susanne Hilpert Stuber: Art and Design Historian, lndependent Curator.
• Patrick Mutzenberg: Mayor of the City of Carouge, Delegate for Cultural Affairs

In conjunction with this competition, the Fondation Bruckner is presenting the 19th edition of the Parcours Céramique Carougeois from September 19 to 27. On this occasion, the entire city will come alive to the rhythm of contemporary creation, celebrated through simultaneous opening receptions in active collaboration with the Ariana Museum in Geneva (Swiss Museum of Ceramics and Glass).
Marking a historic milestone, the Parcours Céramique Carouge is joining the official program of the Geneva Art Week for the very first time. This major edition will take over more than 30 cultural venues (galleries, museums, and artists’ studios) across Carouge and Geneva, offering a rich, free program of lectures, performances, and introductory workshops.

20th Edition of the Carouge International Ceramics Competition

Musée de Carouge
Place de Sardaigne 2
1227 Carouge (Switzerland)

Opening Hours:

• September 19 to November 29, 2026:
  • Free admission from Tuesday to Sunday, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (only during temporary exhibitions, including public holidays).
• Special Opening Hours (From September 19 to 27 — Parcours Céramique Carouge):
  • Monday to Friday: 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
  • Saturday and Sunday: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.