311: Louise Cort on forty years of ceramic research and museum curation

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Louise Cort. After traveling to Japan on an exchange program in high school, Louise developed a love for everyday functional objects. This fascination led her to a PHD in ceramic history from Oxford and then onto nearly fifty years of research and curatorial work in museums. Forty of those years was spent working for the Smithsonian Institution's Freer and Sackler Galleries, where she was the curator of ceramics. In the interview we talk about her research into Southeast Asian ceramics, how the display of an object creates meaning, and how museums are evolving as cultural awareness shifts. To sample Cort’s research visit www.researchgate.net/profile/Louise_Cort.   For today’s AMACO Community Corkboard we have a fund drive for Dan Lafferty’s Bandicoot Pottery, whose studio burnt down in the recent bush fires in New South Wales, Australia. To make a donation and help them rebuild search Bandicoot Pottery on www.gofundme.com. I’d like to thank Amaco/Brent for sponsoring the community corkboard. Brent Equipment is celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year and have created a Limited Edition Black CXC wheel. For more information visit www.amaco.com.   Ceramic Materials Workshop is a proud sponsor of the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler. Ceramic Materials Workshop is a place online to learn about how materials really work. We’ve been teaching about glazes at the most prestigious ceramic universities for years, and now our classes are open to everyone around the world online. Class sessions begin every January, April, July and October 1st, or try our new self-guided online workshop the Middle Glazes: The Story of Mid Temperature Glazes available now. Use the coupon code REDCLAY, all one word, for 25% off the Middle Glazes for a limited time. Find out more and sign up at www.ceramicmaterialsworkshop.com.