Earthenware Frog Bowl by Mirta Morigi
Wood-fired stoneware, low-fired pottery, reptiles on tableware, orange-peel soda ware, local terracotta, porcelain jewelery and techniques for working with clays and glazes, 6th of the International Pottery Market The edition is scheduled to begin on January 26 at Auroville’s Visitors Centre. The center will have all this.
“This is going to be the boldest,” says ceramic artist Adil Ritter. According to him this time all the potters have “upped the game” and the market is going to be flooded with beautiful earthenware. Meanwhile, Sabrina Srinivas is “living, breathing and eating pottery”, she says with a laugh. The Auroville-based potters, who assisted renowned ceramicist Ang Peter to start the Potters Bazaar in Auroville in 2015, are busy organizing as well as creating products for the event.
“This edition is bigger than before,” she says, adding that this time 40 potters will sell their products at 40 tables, compared to previous years when entries were limited to just 30. A separate exhibition area where potters will display “their best pieces”. Day-long wheel demo or hand making by artists, clay play corner for children and presence of international potters from Italy, Poland and Russia will be other highlights of the event who have made a mark in the pottery circuit globally Have left ,
functional and aesthetic
Author’s studio Mandala Pottery will offer colorful tableware made using a distinctive soda firing technique that gives her pottery a “luscious, dripping, speckled, orange peel” effect. Co-created with architect and potter Tosha Parmar, her range will be a range of functional tableware brimming with niche aesthetics. “It’s a misconception that Auroville pottery is largely monochromatic. Every studio will bring something different to the table, from glossy to matte finishes, pieces with cool Scandinavian looks and signature embellishments.
Italian potter Mirta Morigi
Italian potter Mirta Morigi from Faenza is known for her series of vibrantly colored pottery. Mirta, a self-proclaimed Indophile, will be at the market with her “delicious things” such as lady bugs, frogs and chameleons. She will give a demonstration of how she quickly makes her fun reptile creatures.
Sabrina who loves “exploring glazes” will display functional utensils she loves, from sake and coffee cups to vases. She uses the reduction firing technique where there is a lack of oxygen in the kiln and the flame draws iron from the clay body and imparts a reddish blush to the surface.
pottery is the new yoga
Puducherry-based Ranjita Bora identifies herself as a “functional potter” and now works with the gas at a high temperature of 1300 degrees centigrade. “Pottery is the new yoga,” she says of its growing popularity, adding that “people are becoming more accepting of working with clay.” Adil said, “Post the lockdown a new demographic of Indians now want to have beauty on their dining tables, in their kitchens, on their walls, this time not for visiting guests, but for themselves, in their own homes. There is a demand of people matching this enthusiasm to come and pollute the soil! The few potters in Auroville who teach ceramics are inundated with requests from “corporates” who see the need for a break, or as was the case in my situation, a career switch from architecture to ceramics!
potter market group in 2019
The curator of the exhibition, Supriya Menon Meneghetti, has started helping the participants select a work for the show. “It is interesting because one can look at the sculptural works and through their work understand the personal depth of the artist,” she says. She says the event will showcase a variety of earthenware objects such as earthenware, stoneware and porcelain, as well as a variety of decorative styles and glazes. “Visitors will also see the results of different methods of firing pots with wood, gas or electricity. Also, raku (a low-temperature quick firing) and anagama (firing for about three days),” she says.
Supriya heads Auroville’s home fragrance and body care unit Maroma, which also manufactures ceramic items to complement its aromatherapy products.
first potter
The first kiln in 1981 at Kottakkarai village in Auroville. photo credit: Lisbeth
Auroville’s “first potter” Roy Chowat built and lit the first kiln in Auroville in 1981 at Kotakkarai village. He will inaugurate the Potter Market this year.