De Waal comes home to Kettle's Yard

This summer Kettle's Yard is presenting an exhibition of the work of the leading British potter of his generation, Edmund de Waal.

Using the variety of spaces in the gallery and extending into the house with its permanent collection, de Waal has put in place a series of installations, many of them unique to the exhibition.

For de Waal, who read English at Trinity Hall, the exhibition is a homecoming; Kettle's Yard has also been a constant source of inspiration since his student days.

As a potter, and as a writer about ceramics, he has long reflected on how pots have been presented and perceived, from the mass produced teapot to the studio crafted object, and their relationship to the buildings they inhabit.

His work is characterised by the repetition of simple shapes, all slightly unique because they are handmade and fired.

For instance the first piece, ‘A Change in the Weather', features a pot for each day of the year, and further on there are pots in a skylight, on shelves and in boxes, and running beneath the front windows.

In the house, smaller installations replace the normal pots and find their way into bookshelves, and the last space is a room lined with plates and stacked vessels.

“It is a pleasure to welcome Edmund de Waal back to Cambridge as Kettle's Yard has been important to him since his student days,” said Michael Harrison, Director of Kettle's Yard. “He is fascinated by the way objects relate to architecture, meaning that his installations of pots exploring the gallery and the house create a captivating exhibition.”

Kettle's Yard is the beautiful former home of Jim Ede, once curator at the Tate Gallery who moved to Cambridge in 1957.

Paintings and sculpture are interlaced with furniture, glass, ceramics and natural objects, including works by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Alfred Wallis, Ben and Winifred Nicholson, Christopher Wood and Henri Gaudier-Breszka.

The gallery at Kettles Yard is open every day except Mondays, from 11:30am - 5:00pm, and the house is open from 1:30pm – 4:30pm, also opening on bank holiday Monday.

The exhibition runs from 26 May - 22 July and entry is free.