STORY: American ceramist brings new vitality to ancient Chinese kiln
SHOOTING TIME: recent footage
DATELINE: Dec. 9, 2024
LENGTH: 00:04:08
LOCATION: SHIJIAZHUANG, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Marc Leuthold's daily life in Quyang
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): MARC LEUTHOLD, American ceramist
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MARC LEUTHOLD, American ceramist
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): PANG YONGHUI, Chinese arts and crafts master
5. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): MARC LEUTHOLD, American ceramist

STORYLINE:

Currently, Marc Leuthold is living and working in Quyang, a county in north China's Hebei Province. For almost two months, the Swiss American ceramist has been making artworks with traditional Ding kiln clay, some of which are exhibited in Hangzhou right now.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): MARC LEUTHOLD, American ceramist
"My first experience with Dingyao (Ding kiln) porcelain was as a child, my father collected Song Dynasty (960-1279) ceramics, and he had a very beautiful Dingyao bowl, and I never will forget it. So I have a long history with old Dingyao porcelain. I have a long interest in this ceramic culture. Ding ware is the most refined and most beautiful of the Song Dynasty ceramic cultures in my opinion."

During the interview, Leuthold said, art and culture have the potential to create a bridge of understanding which may help people from different cultures work together instead of working against each other.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MARC LEUTHOLD, American ceramist
"One thing that I admire about the government in China is there's balance. They understand that culture needs to be supported too. In the United States, there's very little understanding about the importance of supporting culture. It's considered unnecessary, you know, a luxury. And in China, I don't get that sense. I get the sense that it's considered essential. It understands the importance of supporting culture. And supporting culture means contemporary and traditional. Now China is very confident."

Leuthold came to Quyang at the invitation of Pang Yonghui, Chinese arts and crafts master and representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Ding porcelain firing technique. So far, Pang's company has invited nearly 50 international ceramists to Quyang.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): PANG YONGHUI, Chinese arts and crafts master
"Ding porcelain belongs to traditional Chinese culture and is an intangible cultural heritage in China. We keep inviting foreign ceramists to create artworks using our materials and the Ding porcelain firing technique that integrates their thoughts influenced by their different cultural backgrounds."

Since his first trip to China in 2007, Leuthold has traveled to around 20 Chinese cities and developed a profound friendship with Chinese people.

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): MARC LEUTHOLD, American ceramist
"Chinese hospitality is legendary, and nobody treats visitors as kindly as Chinese people do. I have no blood brother. I have only blood sisters. And so my brothers are Chinese, and yes, I have many, they're very warm. I guess what's shocking to me, because of my experiences in the West, is the humility of the workers. The workers are very anxious to help, to a point that's emotionally touching. You know, it speaks to my heart."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Shijiazhuang, China.
(XHTV)