Inside the 2026 Jingdezhen International Ceramic Art Biennale Awards
Award Winners Reviewed: A Look Inside China’s Largest International Ceramic Exhibition
The 2026 Jingdezhen International Ceramic Art Biennale officially announced its award winners on June 29, 2026, during the opening week of the International Academy of Ceramics (IAC) Congress in Jingdezhen.
As one of the world’s most important ceramic events, the Biennale brought together ceramic artists, museum curators, professors, collectors, journalists, students, and art institutions from around the globe. The award ceremony, held at Jingdezhen Ceramic University, marked one of the highlights of an extraordinary week celebrating contemporary ceramic art.
The Future of Ceramics
The theme of this year’s Biennale is The Future of Ceramics.
The exhibition opened on June 29, 2026 and will remain open until the end of March 2027, giving visitors approximately nine months to explore one of the largest international ceramic exhibitions ever organized in Jingdezhen.
According to the organizing committee:
- 2,560 artworks were submitted worldwide.
- 207 works were selected for the final exhibition.
- 17 international jurors evaluated the finalists.
- 66 awards were presented.
- Total prize money reached 2 million RMB.
Four Award Categories
The 2026 Biennale presented awards in four categories.
| Award | Number of Winners |
|---|---|
| Jinglan Prize | 1 |
| Kaoling Prize | 5 |
| Dowstone Art Prize | 10 |
| Emerging Artist Prize | 50 |
These awards recognize outstanding achievements ranging from established ceramic masters to emerging young artists.
Chinese Artists Dominated This Year’s Awards
Although the Biennale is an international exhibition, the final results show that Chinese artists received the majority of the awards.
Emerging Artist Prize
Among the 50 Emerging Artist Prize winners:
- China — 46
- Spain — 2
- South Korea — 1
- Greece — 1
Dowstone Art Prize
Among the 10 recipients:
- China — 8
- Poland — 1
- United States — 1
Kaoling Prize
Among the 5 recipients:
- China — 4
- Norway — 1
The highest honor of the Biennale, the Jinglan Prize, was awarded to 刘丹华 (Liu Danhua) from Jingdezhen Ceramic University.
Jinglan Prize
刘丹华 (Liu Danhua)
Artwork
《烬灰堆》
Pile of Brocade Ashes
Country: China
As the sole recipient of the Biennale’s highest honor, Liu Danhua received the Jinglan Prize, recognizing exceptional artistic achievement and innovation in contemporary ceramics.
Kaoling Prize Winners
Five artists received the Kaoling Prize.
- 邱威尔 (Qiu Weifer) — Sympathizing with Farmers – A Grain Is Not Merely a Grain — China
- 仇媛媛 (Qiu Yuanyuan) — The Appearance of Things — China
- 谭丹武 (Tan Danwu) — The Cyan Series — China
- 吴跃栋 (Wu Yuedong) — Watching Clouds — China
- Jørgen Haarstad — Work in Progress: Released Wasteland — Norway
Dowstone Art Prize Winners
Ten artists received the Dowstone Art Prize, representing both China and overseas.
International award recipients include:
- Janine Myronowa (Poland)
- Lauren Mabry (United States)
The remaining award winners were Chinese artists:
- 肖道贤 (Xiao Daoxian)
- 尤云姝 (You Yunshu)
- 张学龙 (Zhang Xuelong)
- 彭姗 (Peng Shan)
- 吴建毅 (Wu Jianyi)
- 黄婧 (Huang Jing)
- 谭斌 (Tan Bin)
- 石旖旎 (Shi Yini)
Emerging Artist Prize
The Emerging Artist Prize recognized 50 young and mid-career ceramic artists.
International recipients included:
- Jaume Ribalta Batalla (Spain)
- Corrie Bain (Spain)
- Shin Jihye (South Korea)
- Ilias Christopoulos (Greece)
The remaining winners came from China, reflecting the country’s continued strength in contemporary ceramic art.
Awards Are Only Part of the Story
One of the most interesting observations during the exhibition was that many of the most popular artworks were not award winners.
Throughout the galleries, visitors gathered around numerous honorary exhibition pieces, stopping to photograph them, discuss them, and spend time experiencing the works.
Popularity among visitors does not always correspond with jury decisions. Some of the exhibition’s most photographed and widely discussed installations were displayed alongside the award-winning works without receiving prizes.
These audience favorites demonstrate that contemporary ceramic art can resonate with the public in many different ways, beyond competition results.
What’s Coming Next
This article serves as an overview of the 2026 Biennale awards.
In the coming weeks, I will publish a series of in-depth articles featuring:
- Individual award-winning artists
- Their representative works
- Exhibition highlights
- Jury perspectives on “The Future of Ceramics”
- Behind-the-scenes stories from the Biennale
- My personal observations after visiting the exhibition
Whether you are a ceramic artist, collector, student, curator, or simply someone interested in contemporary ceramics, I hope these articles will provide a closer look at one of the world’s most significant ceramic exhibitions.
Author
Li Sheng
Jingdezhen Ceramic Researcher • Documentary Creator • Ceramic Tour Guide
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