China
Chair Professor of Humanities at Tsinghua University Honorary Curator of the Art Museum of China Academy of Art Director of the Arts and Crafts Committee of China Artists Association
Jian HANG
With a Ph.D. in literature, Jian HANG is Chair Professor of Humanities at Tsinghua University, Director of the Bauhaus Institute and China Research Institute for Culture and Design at the China Academy of Art (CAA), Honorary Curator of the CAA Art Museum, and Deputy Director of the CAA Academic Committee. He previously served as Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Editor-in-Chief of “Decoration,” the academic journal of the former National University of Art and Design, Head of the Department of Art History, Vice Dean of the Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University, as well as Vice President of CAA. Since the 1980s, HANG has dedicated himself to the study of fine art, crafts, and design history research. He is a pioneering figure in the systematic study of Chinese craft aesthetics, and one of the earliest scholars to elevate traditional craftsmanship into the realm of theoretical research and philosophical discourse. Since the early 2000s, he has put forward influential concepts such as “design sparking new ways of thinking in life,” “the democratic value of design,” “the kindness of design,” “the misreading and conscious misreading of modern design,” and “craftspeople’s own fieldwork.” He has also initiated academic and cultural projects including “Research on the Narrative System of Chinese Design History,” “Traditional Chinese Imagery and Modern Design,” and a craft exchange program among three East Asian countries, all of which have had wide-reaching influence in the design field. As chief curator, he has led numerous major exhibitions, including the inaugural Beijing International Design Triennial (organized by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture, Beijing Municipality, and Tsinghua University), the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd China Design Exhibition and Public Art Thematic Exhibition (organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Guangdong Province, and Shenzhen Municipality), “Aesthetic City: Shanghai Design Exhibition” (organized by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles), the China Modern Handicrafts Art School Exhibition (held ten times to date, organized by the China Artists Association), and “Triple Steps: China Contemporary Craft Nominations Exhibition” (organized by the China Academy of Art). Through these curatorial practices, he has actively contributed to the development of indigenous design and the contemporary transformation of traditional craftsmanship.
Kuwait
President of World Crafts Council (WCC)
Saad al-Qaddumi
Saad al-Qaddumi, from Kuwait, is a highly influential cultural advocate and the current President of the World Crafts Council (WCC). He is dedicated to the global preservation and promotion of traditional crafts, with a strong focus on empowering artisans, fostering the sustainable development of the crafts sector, and encouraging the integration of traditional techniques with contemporary design and markets. At the World Crafts Forum, he has highlighted the transformative power of crafts as a form of living heritage, as well as their significant role in driving economic development.
Spain
International Academy of Ceramics President Managing Director of the Ceramics Museum of Argentona
Oliol Calvo Verges
Managing Director of the Ceramics Museum of Argentona (Barcelona, Spain) since 1986. He is also the manager director of the Spanish Association of Cities of Ceramics and is a consultant of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation "Cities of Ceramics), which have more than 100 cities involved. He was the General Coordinator of the 47 Congress and General Assembly of the International Academy of Ceramics - Barcelona 2016, event that has been a great success of participants and activities. From 1991 until 2001 he served as a technician of Culture of the City Council of Argentona, Barcelona. In 1987 he created the Ceramic School of Argentona, and he is also the director of the Argillà Argentona, the International Ceramic Fair of Argentona, which has 90 participants from all over the world and more than 50.000 visitors every year. Since 2005 he created the Ceramic Film Festival of Argentona. He has been a founding member of the Association of Ceramology of Spain and Portugal (1989) and the AeCC (2007), currently formed of 30 cities in Spain. He participated in the creation the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Cities of ceramics, with partners from France, Italy, Romania, which headquarters are in Spain. He also leaded mediTERRA, the Mediterranean network cities ceramic Pyrenees - Mediterranean Euroregion, since 2008. He has lectured extensively and written articles on issues related to ceramics and crafts. He is the author of the publications "Images of Cantirs" (the presence of pottery in art) and the Guide of Pottery Museum of Argentona, "Cantirs Valencians de Fantasia" (Ceramic vessels from Valence) and "Càntirs d'Arreu del Món" (Water vessels from all around the world). As director of the museum boasts its credit the expansion of the collections to 4,000 current issues (highlighting various examples of classical antiquity and four made by Pablo Picasso), architectural and museum renovation done in 2000, the International Ceramics Fair of Argentona.
UK
currently Head of the School of Arts at West Dean
Tim Bolton
Tim is an Arts education leader, artist and ceramicist, passionate about the power of creativity and creative learning at all ages and levels. He is currently Head of the School of Arts at West Dean, Tim was previously the Vice Principal at Arts University Plymouth, leading on the development of the curriculum portfolio and the design and delivery of over £15 million of new craft studios and workshops. He has been the Head of Programmes at Dartington, where Bernard Leach wrote The Potters Book and the seminal 1952 international conference on Pottery and Textiles which launched the British studio craft movement of the later half of the 20th century. Tim worked on relaunching Dartington School of Arts and supporting the academic development of Schumacher College. Tim’s research interests are split between the design, development and implementation of creative pedagogy and the spaces needed for creative practice to flourish, and the sustainability of endangered craft practices, nationally and internationally. Including Ceramics, Glass, Wood, Metals and Textiles, in South and South East Asia. Tim has run projects with the British Council supporting entrepreneurial activity related to enhancing the economic and political empowerment of craft communities, in Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Most recently Tim undertook a BC funded project with The Indian Institute of Craft and Design, in Jaipur, looking at sustaining Baswa a traditional Indian pottery town where most of the community derives all their income from the production of functional domestic wares. Tim was on the board of Arts Council England’s South West Council, The Selection Committee of Make South West, Sussex Craft Week and co-founded Making Futures in 2009, a biannual international conference on Crafts and Sustainability which ran nationally and internationally until 2022 with spinout conferences taking place in China, Korea and the Philippines.
China
Vincent FANG is a prominent lyricist and director in the Mandarin pop music scene. Renowned for his distinctive writing style, his lyrics are rich in imagery and deeply infused with traditional Chinese aesthetics. Over the years, he has penned more than 600 songs and published several books. He has also directed music videos, online short films, and films. In recent years, he has extended his creative reach into the realm of installation art.
Vincent FANG
Vincent FANG is known for deconstructing the habitual use of language, reassigning new weight and meaning to words, and weaving them into a unique lyrical texture—a postmodern lyrical style, which challenges the conventional narratives of love and emotion in Chinese lyrics and opens up new expressive possibilities in song writing. Adept at visualising language and attuned to the digital generation’s way of thinking, his lyrics often read like vivid visual poems. His work is characterised by a strong narrative sense and a signature touch inspired by traditional Chinese elements. Beyond writing, he has ventured into interdisciplinary projects, directing music videos, online short films, and films. In recent years, he has become active in the cultural sphere, serving as a guest speaker at academic and cultural institutions, a jury member and featured guest on poetry-related programs, as well as music director, chief curator, or initiator of major cultural events across China’s mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong regions.
Japan
Renowned ceramic artist, juror of the 3rd ICAA
Munemi Yorigami
Munemi Yorigami is a leading figure in Japanese ceramic art. Born in Kyoto in 1944, he is the son of the acclaimed ceramic artist Sohaku Yorigami. He graduated in 1967 from Tokyo University of Agriculture with a degree in landscape architecture. In the 1970s, he studied under Kazuo YAGI, a pioneer of modern Japanese ceramics. In 1980, he joined “Sōdeisha” (The Crawling through Mud Association), a group of avant-garde ceramicists, and actively participated in its major exhibitions. Over the decades, he has held numerous solo exhibitions around the world and garnered multiple international accolades, including a Gold Prize at the 1991 Faenza Prize International Competition of Contemporary Ceramic Art in Italy.
China
Member of CPPCC, Director of Beijing Fine Art Academy, Deputy Director and Secretary-General of Curatorial Committee of the China Artists Association, Vice President of Beijing Artists Association, curator of the China Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale
Hongliang WU
Hongliang WU is a leading scholar of Qi Baishi’s artworks and 20th-century Chinese art history, as well as an influential curator. In 2008, he contributed to the opening and closing ceremonies and public art projects of the Beijing Olympic Games. Under his leadership, the Art Museum of Beijing Fine Art Academy was selected among the first group of nine national key art museums. The academy’s exhibitions and research publications have received over a dozen national awards from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and other bodies over consecutive years. WU has played a key role in academic initiatives such as the “Curating in China” forum and the International Forum on Qi Baishi’s Art. In 2022, he served as the chair of the planning committee for global public art projects of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2023, he was invited to be the art curator of the China Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka. WU has published extensively in leading academic journals such as “Literature and Art Studies,” “Art Magazine,” “Art Observation,” and “Art Research.” He has also authored a monograph “A Single Leaf Heralds the Autumn.”