Neil Brownsword: Poet of Residue. Invited Lecture, Kookmin University, Seoul, South Korea, 2017

In conjunction with the British Council Korea, Brownsword was invited to share insights on his research behind his special invitational project FACTORY, shown as part of Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale (GICB) 2017.

Abstract
Neil Brownsword: Poet of Residue
The ‘Potteries’ - the name given to the six towns that collectively constitute Stoke-on-Trent, remains one of the few cities in the UK still associated with an industry that for centuries has shaped both the areas economic life and physical landscape. With the industrialisation of ceramics in Britain during the eighteenth century, systems of segregated labour brought about a phenomenal concentration of specialist skills and knowledge to this region. By 1800 the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent paralleled China as a world centre for ceramic production. Paradoxically, recent decades have seen centuries of this cultivated expertise being relocated to the Far East. Company investment in advanced production technology has further contributed to a massive reduction of an indigenous work force and the closure/demolition of once prevalent sites of historic manufacture.

Neil Brownsword’s artistic practice has remained a potent form of recording this historic change. He has sought to challenge the marginalisation of craft skill in industrial contexts, and to highlight the danger of specialist knowledge being lost. Recent work has been made in collaboration with former industry artisans, revealing their people-embodied skills and exploring the value of the industry’s intangible cultural heritage.