On the 4th of March, Edmund de Waal was made Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by Sébastien Bidaud, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of France to the United Kingdom. In doing so, the French Republic pays tribute to De Waal’s many achievements as an immense artist and a writer but also a curator, a librarian, and an historian. Edmund de Waal uses objects as vehicles for human narrative, emotion, and history. His installations of handmade porcelain vessels, often contained in minimalist structures, investigate themes of diaspora, memory, and materiality. His work and influence encompass both the artistic and literary fields in England, in France, and well beyond.
