The 1st National Congress and Exhibition of Portuguese Ceramic Towns and Villages took place on 19 and 20 January 2024 at the Aveiro Congress Centre, where more than two dozen AptCVC members presented themselves in a “Who’s Who” section at the opening session of the Congress.

The Association’s member municipalities presented their history in the field of ceramics over the years, as well as their current potential and the activities they are currently carrying out to promote heritage, architectural, craft, artistic or industrial ceramics, showing the country’s strength in this area.

This was followed by the presentation of the “Ceramic Portugal” exhibition, and the first day of the Congress ended with the 1st Mayors’ Summit of the Portuguese Association of Ceramic Cities and Towns.

The second day of the Congress featured thematic interventions by various speakers on current issues in Portuguese ceramics, namely tradition and creative innovation in Portuguese ceramics and the challenges of sustainability and the history of ceramics in Portugal and in Globalisation. Speakers included Dr José Carlos Almeida, Cláudia Domingues, vice-president of APICER and Jorge Marques dos Santos, President of the CTCV.
Also in the morning, the design team from Cerâmicas S. Bernardo – PP&A presented the Claraval project; this ended with a presentation on Tradition and Creative Innovation in Ceramics, with Cláudia Milhazes from the Barcelos Pottery Museum and Diana Borges and Richard William from Porcelanas Vista Alegre. In the afternoon session, the Congress featured a presentation by Professor João Labrincha, from the University of Aveiro, on Ceramics and the Challenges of Sustainability; and finally, Dr Alexandre Pais, Director of the National Tile Museum, gave a presentation on the History of Ceramics in Portugal and Globalisation.