Handle with Care

The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics in Leeuwarden will present the new exhibition Handle with Care from 26 November 2022 to 29 October 2023. This exhibition revolves around the hand and gestures – expressions of intimacy, compassion, serenity, authority, labour and celebration. The ceramics that will be displayed capture the universal role hands and fingers play in the lives of humans and animals. Curator Dr. Wendy Gers selected 37 works relating to this theme for Handle with Care. They range from archaeological finds to the latest contemporary acquisitions, loans from up-and-coming artists, and treasures from the Princessehof’s depot. Sometimes the known and unknown makers of this eclectic collection of objects from different times and regions have literally left their impressions in the clay.

Instruments and gestures

Among the works is Hand Job, a ‘multi-tool’ for the hand created by Neha Kudchadkar, which consists of ten delicate instruments, one for each finger and each with its own function: caress, feed, manipulate and cherish. This is the first time that work by Kudchadkar, an up-and-coming visual and performance artist from Mumbai, India, will be exhibited in the Netherlands. One of the Princessehof’s recent acquisitions, a sculpture by Sharon van Overmeiren (Belgium), will also be premiered in Handle with Care. Dog whisperer and television star Caesar Milan – and his dogs – inspired this work, in which Van Overmeiren explores the boundary between humans and animals. The figure makes a blessing gesture with one hand, and seems to offer something with the other.

Handle with Care includes work by unidentified artists from China, Peru, Suriname, Nigeria, Dagestan, Turkey and the Netherlands. Also on show is work by Rob Birza, Johan Creten, Marie-Josée Comello, Daniël De Bruin, Bing & Grøndahl, Satoru Hoshino, Bastienne Kramer, Neha Kudchadkar, Hanna Mobach, Charlotte Eta Mumm, Pablo Ponce, Rosenthal & co, Akio Takamori, Studio Tjep, Simone van Bakel, Hans van der Ham, Hans van Houwelingen, Couzijn van Leeuwen, Sharon van Overmeiren, Irene Vonck, Pauline Wiertz and Betty Woodman. The lion’s share of the exhibited works are from the Princessehof’s collection, but there are also pieces from the collections of the Fries Museum, the Fries Verzetsmuseum and a loan from Museum Boijmans van Beuningen.

Handy ceramics

Thumbs-up or thumbs-down? Beckoning or dismissing? They’re almost the same hand movements, yet there is a world of difference. This is how hands can make and break us: a hand that caresses can also strike, a hand that invites can just as easily reject. We use our hands to make sketches, add details, and create works of art. Ceramicists sometimes literally leave their impressions in the clay. And a fingertip is sometimes enough to set the largest machines in motion. But the power of our hands also lies in their vulnerability: when communicating, or holding or releasing the people and objects around us.

Hans van Houweling, A posteriori, 2015, Armour hand by the artist with plate from late Ming period (1560-1580). Restored with ki

National Museum of Ceramics

In recent years, the Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics in Leeuwarden has developed into a world leader in the field of contemporary ceramics. Highlights include the major exhibitions Human After All (2020/21) and In Motion (2017). The second floor of the museum is devoted to contemporary art and design, with four to five solo presentations per year, recent examples being work by Jennifer Tee, Babs Haenen, Meekyoung Shin, Morten Løbner Espersen and Yoon Seok-Hyeon. Currently on show are works by Alexandra Engelfriet (until 9 April 2023) and design duo Humade (until 30 October 2022). The museum actively expands its collection, also as a source of inspiration for new generations of designers and artists. In the years ahead, curator Dr. Wendy Gers will be focusing on an exhibition programme and accompanying publications around sustainable ceramics.

Partners: Ottema-Kingma Foundation, Society of Friends Princessehof Museum of Ceramics, and Club Céramique

The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics is co-funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Municipality of Leeuwarden