International circuit / Chapter 05

Menemen
2026.

Name: 5th International Menemen Pottery Festival
Start: 2026-09-18
End: 2026-09-20
Location: Menemen

Three days where the wheel became a common language—joining public making, monumental fire, and artists from across the world.

Enter the festival record

Menemen festival installation beneath rows of international flags — Menemen, İzmir, TürkiyeSeptember 18—20, 2026

Event5th International Menemen Pottery Festival

DatesSeptember 18—20, 2026

RoleParticipating artist / United States

StudioDAPOTTERY Studio

The world’s pottery table is set

Clay as a place
to meet.

Menemen brought the private discipline of the studio into a public, international setting. Across three days, technique was shared in real time—through demonstrations, conversation, observation, and the direct experience of making beside other artists.

This record follows Daniel Pontoriero through the 2026 festival as DAPOTTERY Studio. It is less a list of results than a view from inside the event: the arrival, the people, the scale of the gathering, and the energy that forms when clay is worked in public.

Daniel beneath the Menemen festival installation and international flags — Arrival / Menemen / Daylight

Night record / Fire + architecture

A tower
made of earth.

A monumental ceramic tower became a gathering point after dark. Fire made the material transformation visible, while the work itself held the detail and ambition of architecture at human scale.

Daniel smiling beside a monumental ceramic tower as flames rise from its base — 01Monumental firing

A detailed ceramic tower being fired at night with Daniel standing beside it — 02Clay / Structure / Flame

Artist exchange / Beyond the wheel

Technique travels
through people.

The lasting material of an international festival is exchange: the informal conversations, shared observations, handshakes, and moments of recognition between makers. These encounters connect distinct studio traditions without flattening their differences.

Daniel shaking hands with a ceramic artist beside the completed tower — 03Exchange beside the tower

Daniel laughing and shaking hands with another artist at night — 04Conversation after fire

Daniel with two festival participants beneath rows of international flags

International community

Many studios.
One field.

The flags overhead describe the scale of the gathering; the relationships on the ground give it meaning. Menemen made room for individual practice and collective experience to exist at the same time.

Field notes / 2026

Around the
festival.

Place, process, and the small details that hold the larger experience together. Select any photograph to view it at full scale.

A calm Aegean bay with small boats at dusk — 05Aegean pause

Expressive clay portrait bust displayed on a worktable — 06Clay portrait / Process

Daniel shaking hands with a ceramic artist beside the fired tower — 07Shared recognition

Official festival welcome banner reading The world's pottery table is set in Menemen — 08Official welcome / Sep 18—20

A living record

“The world’s pottery
table is set in Menemen.”

This page is the first complete visual chapter from 2026. More names, competition details, results, and work-specific notes can be added as the full archive is assembled.

Festival or collaboration enquiry ↗

Menemen2026.

Clay as a placeto meet.

Technique travelsthrough people.

Many studios.One field.

Menemen
2026.

Clay as a place
to meet.

Technique travels
through people.

Many studios.
One field.