Original Armenian ceramics · Jerusalem · Established 1983
George & Dorin SandrouniArmenian Ceramic CenterEst. 1983The Sandrouni journal
Discover the exhibitions, treasured pieces and stories behind our family workshop.
Exhibitions · A centenary of Armenian ceramics
Dorin and George Sandrouni’s Tradition and Imagination was featured in this exhibition celebrating a century of Armenian ceramics in Jerusalem.
Created in 2019, the pomegranate-shaped vessel brings together birds inspired by a Byzantine mosaic, winding vines and floral ornament. Its Armenian inscription draws on another mosaic from a seventh-century monastery, connecting the contemporary piece to the city’s layered heritage.
Dorin Sandrouni · Exhibition archive
The invitation to Dorin’s 2008 exhibition records a new direction in her work: Armenian ceramics exploring sculpture and three-dimensional composition.
The exhibition opened on 7 September 2008 at the Jerusalem Theatre Gallery, Marcus 20, Jerusalem.
Browse the exhibition album, featuring three-dimensional ceramic pieces and their decorative details.
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An unfinished plate by David Ohanessian, gifted to Dorin by his granddaughter Anahit Ohanessian, inspired her exploration of three-dimensional ceramic art. The broken plate is preserved here in the family workshop.
View plate imageArchitectural commission · Jerusalem · 2022
From a design sketch to ceramic panels above the gateway near New Gate.
Coordinated by Fr. Carlos Thomas for the Custody of the Holy Land, the project joined Spanish artist and architect Vicente A. de Lastra Barrios’s designs with ceramic production by George and Dorin Sandrouni’s Jerusalem studio.
Gothic geometry meets plant ornament inspired by Byzantine mosaics. George described the collaboration as an encounter between different artistic cultures, translating the original sketches through the workshop’s ceramic practice.
The photographs follow drawn outlines, brushwork and the completed glazed panels. A large architectural composition took shape across individual tiles in the family’s small workshop.
The outer panel centres on the Jerusalem cross and a blessing. The companion design depicts Saints Francis and Anthony. Installation photographs show the ceramic work being fitted into the stone entrance.
Photographs and design image: Terra Sancta Museum’s published project report. Original design credit follows the signed sketch.
In conversation · 20 September 2024
George reflects on the family’s beginnings, the inspiration he finds in Jerusalem, and the drawing, painting, glazing and firing behind the workshop’s ceramics. He also shares what the Custody commission meant to him and his hopes for the craft’s future.
Read the full interview on Saxum ↗Family history · 2000–2004
In 2000, George and Dorin moved to Canada with their daughters, Karin and Jacqueline. George continued making ceramics, establishing a workshop in Scarborough, Toronto, in September that year. The family’s craft travelled with them.
After four years in Canada, the family returned to Jerusalem in 2004. George resumed his ceramic work in the Armenian Quarter; the New Gate workshop followed in 2010.
A 2001 newspaper clipping records the Toronto workshop. A later interview in the National Catholic Register recounts the family’s move and return, and George’s connection to Jerusalem and its Christian community.
In the press · 2001
A report on George (Kevork) Sandrouni’s workshop in Scarborough, Toronto, established in September 2000, and the family business’s roots in Jerusalem.
Photographed excerpt. The visible masthead reads “REPORTER INT’L”; the article continues beyond the photograph.
View full-size clippingThe written archive
Explore our approach to making and the voices that have documented it.
From the workshop
After so much work, this recent 3D plate emerged broken. It’s a reminder of the uncertainty behind handmade ceramics.