A NORTH East academic is to give a lecture on sustainable ceramic art and design at an inaugural international conference in Sweden next month.
Dr Andrew Livingstone, a senior lecturer at the University of Sunderland and subject leader of ceramics at the National Glass Centre, will present a research paper at the first ever International Ceramics Symposium in Gothenburg from March 7-11, attended by some of the world's leading experts in this field.
Dr Livingstone's paper draws on his continued research into ceramic art and will address the complex issues surrounding contemporary ceramics and its position in relation to sustainable practice.
Sustainability is increasingly becoming an important issue in ceramic art and design, as with other areas of art practice, due to its production and the demand on natural resources.
Dr Livingstone explained: "As we become more and more conscious of our future environment and as raw materials become more expensive it is perhaps inevitable that artists working within ceramics have begun to adopt sustainable strategies for making their work.
"This is certainly true of my own work and is something I have introduced into teaching through research."
As well as delivering his paper, entitled: ‘The Ceramic Regurgitant: Sustainability and the Readymade', Dr Livingstone will also be exhibiting at the symposium, with his work ‘Postmodern Animal', addressing the themes of a sustainable approach to practice.
For further details on the symposium, log on to: www.ics2011.com . Dr Livingstone's work can be viewed at www.andrewlivingstone.com.
