Every piece of pottery carries a story, and sometimes even a broken fragment can preserve a remarkable piece of history.
The Joining the Shards (JtS) project brings together ceramic museums, research organizations, and heritage professionals from across Europe to explore innovative approaches to damaged ceramic heritage. Its work is rooted in the idea that preserving ceramics means more than repairing artifacts. It also means preserving the stories, identities, craftsmanship, and shared cultural memory connected to them.
For admirers of authentic Polish pottery and European ceramics, the project has a particularly meaningful connection to Bolesławiec, Poland, a city internationally recognized for its centuries-old ceramic tradition.
The Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec Joins a European Effort
The Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec is one of three partner museums that conducted a detailed analysis of ceramic heritage affected by war and conflict, alongside the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza and Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. The Bolesławiec museum also expanded the research by sharing the project questionnaire with seven additional Polish museums.
The results went beyond the project's original goals. Researchers analyzed 73 ceramic heritage objects, compared with an initial target of 45, and identified nine approaches to telling the stories behind ceramic heritage. The project's wider research also examined proven practices in ceramic conservation and storytelling, as well as innovative technologies with potential applications in protecting historic ceramics.
The work will help build a shared European knowledge base for museums and cultural institutions seeking to protect, interpret, and promote ceramic heritage affected by conflict.
From Historic Ceramics to Polish Pottery Today
For those who collect Polish pottery from Bolesławiec, this project is a beautiful reminder that ceramics are more than functional objects. Poland's ceramic traditions connect generations of artisans, communities, collectors, and families through objects designed to be both used and treasured.
Today's hand-painted Polish pottery, Polish stoneware, Bolesławiec pottery, ceramic dinnerware, serving pieces, mugs, bowls, and bakeware continue that relationship between craftsmanship and everyday life. Each handmade ceramic piece becomes part of a much larger story of Polish artistry and cultural heritage.
Joining the Shards captures that idea beautifully: “A broken fragment is not the end of an object. It is the beginning of a story.”
By supporting and appreciating authentic Polish ceramics today, we can celebrate not only the beauty of traditional Bolesławiec pottery, but also the extraordinary ceramic heritage that projects like Joining the Shards are working to research, preserve, and share with future generations.