[News Today] Ready for Icheon Ceramics Festival

[LEAD]
A Ceramics Festival is set to be held in Icheon, an area known for its pottery studios. The event showcases unique ceramics that break away from traditional forms.

[REPORT]
These may look like disposable paper cups at a glance but they are all ceramics baked with clay.

The slight bends are intentional to make the cup easier to hold, a feature of functionality.

Lee Hyun-han / Ceramics artist
People find them very amusing and sensual.

Ahead of the Icheon Ceramics Festival, some 240 workshops are getting ready to welcome guests with their unique works.

Creative and fun products, moving away from traditional pottery norms, are to be showcased this year.

With more city dwellers raising plants and pets indoors, pet-specific bowls and clay pots for plants are growing in popularity.

Jo Sun-hee / Runs clay pot workshop
People want one-of-a-kind flower pots that can also be decorative. Those items
are popular.

Pre-festival programs are already underway allowing visitors to get a taste of the events to come in advance.

People can make their own ceramic creations at pottery studios and once they are dried and baked, they can pick up the finished product during the festival period.