Everything but…  British Council international touring exhibition ceramic tableware pieces; slip cast earthenware, with coloured transparent glazes

The exhibition explores the humour and quirkiness present within current design/craft practice in the UK. Simultaneously, the show significantly addresses cultural differences and the inter-cultural importance of food and ceramic kitchenware articles, locating British design aesthetic in a contemporary worldwide framework. The lemon squeezers began as a one-off piece and shifted quickly from studio production into factory manufacture, endorsed by coverage in the press and retail sales (e.g. The Conran Shop, Heal’s and Liberty’s, as well as Japan, Singapore and the USA.) The design of the lemon squeezers were the result of investigations into domestic objects and how a design for a functional object could be conceived as a theatrical piece as well as functioning as a kitchen utensil, which the Philippe Starck Juicy Salif juicer (1988) exemplifies. The object no longer needs to be hidden away when not in use but can be utilised as a display piece produced in various colours and decorative possibilities. The exhibits represent makers who produce gallery pieces and are a mixture of traditional craft-makers or potters, whilst other work is representative of designers who produce ware in a studio batch production environment. Other contributors work with industry and high-volume production runs. The lemon squeezers were developed during a 6 week study trip to Lisbon in association with the Royal College of Art and ARCO – the Centre de Arte e Communicacao Visual in Lisbon. The design was developed from studies of Manueline Architecture from the Monastery of the Heronymites and studies at Belem Tower and the Museu de Marinha in Belem. Drawings and studies were made of the vaulted ceilings and the intricate stone carvings of leaf and floral details on the pillars within the nave of the Monastery. A series of conferences followed the exhibition, exploring connections between food, rituals and cultural identity