Catalan, Chinese ceramic traditions inspire each other in fusion art

When Ribalta first arrived in Jingdezhen in 2019, he felt an immediate sense of recognition. After traveling through different parts of China and learning to see the country through the lens of diverse artistic traditions, he felt that Jingdezhen was the place where many of the questions that had shaped his artistic journey could continue to unfold.

"What struck me most was that the tradition was alive. Jingdezhen was not simply a museum or a historical attraction. It was a working city where people continued to practice skills passed down through generations. The continuity between the past and the present moved me deeply," he says.

In 2022, Ribalta moved his studio permanently to Jingdezhen. He had come to China as a teacher, but stayed on as a student, a role the city continues to remind him to embrace, showing him that there is always more to discover, learn and explore.

Ribalta says his work brings together visual elements from his native Spain with traditional Chinese ceramic techniques, including blue-and-white porcelain and red underglaze decoration.

"For me, it is a deeper dialogue. I am not interested in simply placing a Catalan symbol beside a Chinese symbol. That would be only a visual combination. What interests me is what happens when two traditions come into contact and begin to change one another," he says.

In one of his masterpieces, My Cherry Tree, Ribalta uses a tree to connect Catalonia and China. The cherry tree in his Jingdezhen studio reminds him of the almond trees near Tarrega, where his father taught him, as a child, to crack almonds with a stone and fly kites. At the same time, it evokes the plum blossoms celebrated in Chinese poetry. The image belongs to both places and also to something more universal: longing, resilience, spring and renewal.

"For me, cultural fusion is not an ornamental strategy. It is a way of understanding identity. I have not abandoned one origin to adopt another. Living far from Catalonia, I have been able to look back at it with new eyes. At the same time, China has given me new materials, techniques and ways of seeing," he says.

Ribalta chose the swallow as a symbol of "a Spaniard living in China". The bird migrates across borders, yet always finds its way back to familiar places. For him, it mirrors his own journey: leaving Spain for China and gradually putting down roots in Jingdezhen. The swallow, like Ribalta himself, belongs to more than one place.

"The swallow remains an important symbol for me because it represents both migration and memory. It travels between places, but it also returns. In My Cherry Tree, the swallows express movement, attachment and the possibility of belonging to more than one place," he says.

"In the future, I would like to continue exploring the relationship between Chinese and Catalan ceramic traditions. Besides, I also want to tell stories about contemporary life in China, not only historical or symbolic stories. These objects may appear ordinary, but they contain important memories about how people live," he says.

liujianqiao@chinadaily.com.cn