Streets of Baltics is a Baltic-wide collaboration project between porcelain designer Esmeralda Purvišķe (Esse Ceramics and Krasta Keramika) and artists from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. This autumn, the third edition of the project, handmade porcelain cups decorated with original drawings by illustrators, graphic artists, and street artists, has been released.
With this project, Krasta Keramika aims to promote collaboration between artists and designers from the Baltic States and strengthen the professional community in this field. The first series of Streets of Baltics cups was released in 2018. In 2021, the project’s second edition followed, and now the third series of cups is available with illustrations created by illustrator and graphic artist Ziepe and street artist Vour from Latvia, artist Stina Leek and artist Roland Seer from Estonia, as well as illustrator Akvile Magicdust and street artist and illustrator Ettoja from Lithuania.
Each cup design is available in just twenty copies and is entirely handmade. Initially, porcelain is poured into plaster moulds, and after the first firing, the cups are sanded and glazed. Finally, they are screen-printed using porcelain overglaze paint, which becomes scratch-resistant after firing. While the Streets of Baltics cups can be compared to artworks, the project’s creators emphasise that they are functional objects, and the cups are resistant to scratches; they can be placed in a dishwasher and microwave.
«The cups are quite unique. We don’t make them on a conveyor; each one is numbered and signed. We want visual artists to have the opportunity to realise their work on a spatial and functional, rather than flat, object. In the project, we don’t try to interfere with the artist’s work. We allow them to develop the decoration according to their own choice. The only condition is the use of two colours,» says artist Zahars Ze, who works together with Esmeralda Purvišķe at the Krasta Keramika studio. The cups are available on the Krasta Keramika online store.
Viedokļi