Taoxichuan International Studios Residency (Jingdezhen) / JCU Longquan Research Institute Residency (Longquan)
China, 2024
MANADA is a solo exhibition project developed by Ecuadorian artist Tomás Carpio during two artistic residencies in China in 2024: the Taoxichuan International Studios Residency in Jingdezhen and the Longquan Research Institute of Jingdezhen Ceramic University (JCU) in Longquan. The project evolved through a period of intensive research, experimentation, and cultural exchange within two of China’s most significant centers of ceramic production.
Conceived as an expanding body of work, MANADA was presented in a series of solo exhibitions throughout China, including International Studios, Taoxichuan Art Avenue (Jingdezhen), JCU Research Institute (Longquan), and later Leya Art Space (Cixi, Zhejiang).
The exhibition brings together a community of hybrid beings, imaginary animals, and symbolic creatures that inhabit a shared narrative universe. Through ceramic sculpture and large-scale drawing, Carpio explores themes of migration, memory, belonging, and collective identity. The title MANADA—Spanish for “herd” or “pack”—refers to a group of beings moving together, a metaphor for the encounters, exchanges, and relationships formed through international artistic mobility.
Created between Jingdezhen and Longquan, the works reflect a dialogue between the artist’s Latin American visual language and the ceramic traditions of China. The residency experience provided access to new materials, technical processes, and historical contexts, allowing the development of sculptures that merge contemporary imagination with centuries-old ceramic knowledge. Jingdezhen, widely recognized as the world’s historic porcelain capital, and Longquan, renowned for its celadon heritage, became active influences in the conceptual and material development of the project.
Rather than depicting specific species, the creatures of MANADA emerge as emotional and symbolic presences—guardians, companions, and travelers that exist somewhere between the familiar and the fantastic. Together they form a collective ecosystem that invites viewers to reflect on coexistence, transformation, and the universal capacity of imagination to transcend cultural boundaries.
The MANADA exhibition series represents one of the most significant outcomes of Tomás Carpio’s residency work in China, highlighting the creative dialogue between contemporary ceramic practices from Latin America and East Asia.
Exhibitions within the MANADA Project (2024)
- MANADA — International Studios, Taoxichuan Art Avenue, Jingdezhen, China (Solo Exhibition)
- MANADA — JCU Research Institute, Longquan, China (Solo Exhibition)
