The International Competition of Contemporary Ceramic Art is open to individual or associated artists with no thematic or age restrictions. For collective works, artists must indicate a single name to act as their representative at each stage of the Competition. Participation may also be organised by Ministries, Cultural Bodies, Associations or others. Each competitor was allowed to submit a maximum of two works with a maximum size of 4 m³. Execution using any ceramic technique was permitted. Works could include the use of other materials, albeit not predominantly. Artists were required to declare that they were their own works, created within the last two years and not submitted to other competitions.

Preference was given to works of a sculptural or installation nature that emphasised innovation and conveyed a marked contemporary connotation. The Faenza Prize has in fact been characterised over the years by a path of avant-garde, highly topical and contemporary choices and this must be the mission to pursue.

The competition is divided into two separate sections: one reserved for artists under 35 years of age (born after 31 December 1987), the other for artists over 35 years of age.

On 27 February 2023, the International Jury concluded its on-line selection of works to be admitted to the final stage of the 62nd Faenza Prize. The selection involved the evaluation of 1101 works by 723 artists (or groups), 60 nations participated.
The competition, divided into two categories, saw
– for the Over 35 section the participation of 570 artists (or groups)
– 153 artists (or groups) participated in the Under 35 section.
At the end of the evaluations, 50 artists from 24 countries were selected in the ‘over 35’ category and 20 artists from 10 countries in the ‘under 35’ category.

The 62^nd Edition presents a novelty: the winner of the under-35 category will be invited to Faenza to hold a residency in which they will produce works that will be exhibited in the Project Room of the MIC Faenza in the autumn. In addition, the artist will hold a workshop with ISIA design students to explore new designs in contemporary ceramics.

Finalists

Category Over 35 selected: Dorna Abyak (Iran), Darien Arikoski-Johnson (USA), Elysia Athanatos (Cipro), Eliza Au (Canada), Kosmas Ballis (USA), Leonardo Bartolini (Italy), Sofia Beça (Portugal), Nicola Boccini-Nicola Renzi (Italy), Anne Butler (UK), Kris Campo (Belgium), Sara Cancellieri (Italy), Greg Daly (Australia), Nathalie Doyen (Belgium), Antonio Fois (UK), Magdalena Gerber (Switzerland), Kei Hoashi (Japan), Ivan Kanchev (Bulgaria), Peter Johnson (USA), Maria Joanna Juchnowska (Norway), Frank Louis (Germany), Yves Malfliet (Belgium), Massimo Manfredi Luccioli (Italy), Domenico Mangano&Marieke Van Rooy (Italy-Holland), Alexandra Marinova (Bulgaria), Garret Masterson (USA), Daniel Molyneux (USA), Muscle Memory Collective (Joshua Clark – Bree Lamb) (USA), Yuko Nemoto (Japan), Marieke Pauwels (Belgium), Maria Pol (Switzerland), Pol Polloniato (Italy), Liza Riddle (USA), Sibylle Ritter (France), Fausto Salvi (Italy), Marco Samorè (Italy), Virginia San Fratello (USA), Anja Seiler (Switzerland), Brook Sigal (France), Nora Smahelova (Czech Republic), Kirsten Spuijbroek (Holland), Sunbim Lim (South korea), Eileen Süssholz (South Africa), Mikaso Tamago-Ljubica Knezevic (Serbia), Mariette Van der Ven (Holland), Vukicevic Velimir (Serbia), Mattia Vernocchi (Italy), Tomoyo Yoshida Arrighi (Japan), Xuejing Peng (China), Lily Wang (Taiwan), Veljko Zejak (Serbia).

Category Under 35 selected: Federico Branchetti (Italy), Wei Bao (China), Uriel H. Caspi (Israel), Noa Chernichovsky (Israel), Lin Dong (China), Arndt Felicithas (Germany), Victor Fotso Nyie (Italy), HongLi Peng (China), Lei Shao (China), Lena Kaapke (Germany), Guglielmo Maggini (Italy), Thomas Marseiler (Austria), Mengtong Yu (China), Sarah Pschorn (Germany), Lisa Reiter (Austria), Davide Ronco (Denmark), Tomoya Sakai (Japan), Katrin Schneider (Austria), Laurence Sturla (Austria).

The Jury for the awarding of the prizes met on 23 and 24 May 2023. The international Jury was composed of: Claudia Casali, Director MIC Faenza, Judith Schwartz, Professor Emeritus, New York University, Ranti Tjan, Director of the Academy of Fine Arts in the Hague, Tomohiro Daicho, Senior Curator, MOMAK Kyoto.

Honourable Mentions of the Jury to: Veljko Zejak, Fausto Salvi, Frank Louis, Sara Cancellieri.