With 17,800 visitors expected this year and 65 exhibiting galleries, ceramic brussels, the first international art fair devoted to ceramics, is confirming its ambitions for its second edition held from 22 to 25 January 2025. Also close to the world of contemporary design, this event founded by Gilles Parmentier and Jean-Marc Dimanche brings people together around a medium that has yet to prove itself in institutions and museums.

How did the ceramic brussels fair come about?

Gilles Parmentier: The idea of setting up a fair dedicated entirely to contemporary ceramics came about two years ago, following a meeting between Jean-Marc and myself and our observation that ceramics, which was emerging in studios and galleries, would do the same in institutions, museums and art centres. I already had experience of the Art on Paper fair, devoted to drawing and also based in Brussels, at Tour & Taxis, which I’ve been organising for six editions.
Jean-Marc Dimanche: I have experience as an exhibition curator and journalist, but also as an entrepreneur in the arts and crafts sector, and I met Gilles when I was running the Brussels art centre Eleven Steens. We first worked together on Art on Paper before coming together to found ceramic brussels.

What were the needs of such a fair when it was created, and why did you choose to locate it in Brussels?

J-M D: When we scanned Europe to think about the format that a 100% ceramics art fair could adopt, we realised that there was no event of this kind anywhere else and that the players in the art market — galleries, artists and ceramists — needed a regular commercial and cultural event to meet the demand from the ever-increasing number of collectors.
G P: Brussels was the obvious choice for us to set up ceramic brussels, partly because the capital of Europe is central and very well connected, but also because it has a certain aura in the art world, and it’s still accessible.
J-M D: The city also has an international dimension and is more open to contemporary creation than Paris, for example, where getting the idea across to professionals that the ceramic medium is linked to art or design is not an easy thing to do.

ceramic brussels appears to be a niche fair that is successful in its own milieu and beyond. How do you explain this?

G P: As early as 2024, we decided to position ceramic brussels as a ‘niche’ contemporary art fair, but with a large and growing number of galleries representing both emerging and established talent and big names, and to go beyond the classic concept of a commercial fair to think of it first and foremost as a cultural platform. A meeting place for the art and ceramics community on a global level, hence the invitation to foreign countries such as Norway this year, with the presence of five galleries supported by Norwegian Crafts.

To achieve this, we have put in place a number of initiatives: a call for young European talent for a prize — the Art Prize —, an advisory board (a ‘selection committee’) made up of leading figures from the worlds of contemporary creation and cultural institutions… We have also decided to invite a major artist each year to give him or her carte blanche within the fair.
J-M D: Last year the Belgian artist Johan Creten, based in France and represented by the Transit and Almine Rech galleries, and this year the American visual artist Elizabeth Jaeger, from the Kamel Mennour gallery. Our series of conferences on a wide range of themes linked to current issues in ceramics, such as the evolution of ceramics practice with 3D design tools and AI, supports our desire to make ceramic brussels a comprehensive experience.

What is the economics of a fair like yours?

G P: Our fair on a human scale is an ideal setting for meetings, dialogue and exchanges. This format well suits the world of ceramics, centred around know-how, but it remains an economic challenge. Our income mainly comes from hiring out stands to the fair’s exhibiting galleries, as well as to the book publishers who have joined us. Other sources of income include ticket sales, partnerships and sponsorship from brands and the media. We don’t yet have any spin-off products, but we do publish a magazine. Whatever we earn, we invest in the show to help it grow.
J-M D: We’re buoyed by the enthusiasm of the professionals, collectors and institutions. There is a lot of demand placed on galleries at a time when the fair calendar is extremely busy.

Which art market demand does this event meet? For ceramics or art?

J-M D: By positioning the fair as a contemporary art fair dedicated to ceramics, we’re targeting both art collectors and traditional ceramic collectors and purists. The former are finding it increasingly easy to take an interest in the medium of ceramics, thanks to artists who mix this medium with others. Our guest of honour for 2025, Elizabeth Jaeger, is a perfect example of this. She mixes ceramics in total freedom with bronze, metal, wood, etc.
The difference between art and ceramics collectors almost no longer exists today, as a new generation of collectors is emerging without making this distinction. Perhaps we’re also less affected than others by the recession in the contemporary art market.

What is the parallel between the contemporary ceramics you promote and design, more specifically the collectible sector?

J-M D: Since the end of the 50s, after the Picassos and others, there hasn’t really been any fundamental movement in ceramics, and certain galleries linked to arts and crafts, and even collectible design, are keen to produce limited edition ceramic pieces.
G P: We’re asking questions and opening up the debate. This is also the role of a fair.
J-M D: Our aim is to show that ceramics is a creative tool in the broadest sense of the term, for sculptures as well as installations and immersive works that take us away from the culture of the beautiful ceramic object, inherited from Art Deco, towards a disruptive art that explores new aspects.

How is this diversification of ceramics reflected in the scheduling of ceramic brussels?

J-M D: In particular, it will be the subject of discussions in our series of conferences within the fair, some of which will deal with 3D design in ceramics or the practice of mixed-media.
G P: The overall experience we are offering aims to create bridges with other media connected with ceramics, such as fashion, design and even architecture. The support of leading organisations such as MAD Brussels (which last year led to a call for projects to create an installation within the fair) and media such as IDEAT Benelux (which this year led to the creation of a special prize) calls for wider collaboration. A fair like ceramic brussels needs to be built up over several years before it can be diversified in turn.