Ardmore. We Are Because of Others

The Story of Fée Halsted and Ardmore Ceramic Art

Colourful, imaginative, vibrant, delicate and dramatic – these are just some of the hallmarks of the artworks that have garnered international accolades for Ardmore Ceramic Art in rural KwaZulu-Natal. It is here, in South Africa’s most successful ceramics studio set in the verdant Midlands, that exquisitely handcrafted and highly detailed figurative works and functional ware are created by more than fifty artists who draw on Zulu traditions and folklore, history, the natural world, and their own lives for inspiration. In turn, it is the lives of the sculptors and painters of Ardmore that fire the vision of the woman behind it all: Fée Halsted is an artist whose love of teaching and determination to fight poverty and AIDS have set others on the path of creative self-discovery and ultimately worldwide acclaim. Ardmore – We are because of others tells the extraordinary story of this famous studio – from its humble beginnings in a poverty-stricken corner of South Africa to its fame as a producer of exceptional and irresistible objets d’art prized by collectors, galleries and museums throughout the world. It is also the story of the indomitable Fée Halsted who is the driving force behind the enterprise, and the artists whose inventive spirit and fearless creativity are at the heart of Ardmore. Fée Halsted graduated with a BA (Fine Art) from the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal), in 1981 and completed an Advanced Diploma in ceramics in 1983. She lectured at the former Durban Technikon before establishing Ardmore Ceramic Art along with Bonnie Ntshalintshali in 1985. In 1990 the duo was jointly awarded the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award. In 2010, in recognition of her work at Ardmore and for her efforts to empower women and uplift the lives of their families, Fée was honoured by the Philadelphia-based international nongovernmental organisation, Women’s Campaign International. To date she has participated in more than 60 national and international exhibitions and biennales, and Ardmore ceramics can now be found in several major public collections and museums, including the Museum of Cultures in Basel, Switzerland, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, USA, the Hetjens Museum in Düsseldorf, Germany, the South African National Gallery, the Johannesburg Art Gallery and the Standard Bank Collection, as well as in a number of private collections.