The ceramic craft is often associated with an idea of clay as ‚pure‘, the craft as earthy and in tune with nature. Another complex reality exists through clay mining and its geopolitical dimensions: clay is mined industrially, mixed in factories and transported throughout Europe. The Westerwald region in Germany is known for its high quality and large clay occurrence. Clay has been mined there for hundreds of years. Today there are still many active clay pits in operation. Westerwald is also the main distributor of clay through supplier companies to ceramicists in Scandinavia. The clay pits in Westerwald become bigger not only because of a personal demand, but also due to political reasons as the clay pits in the Donbass region, which was previously one of the largest producers, are no longer accessible. An excursion to the Westerwald region was the starting point for the artistic investigation of this complex material story. Tontouristen is German and can be translated into clay tourists. The collective is interested in the material shift and transformative journey of the clay. The exhibition „Deposit“ is the outcome of this artistic investigation.
