A three-day Kaliman Kalari (pottery workshop) began at the ‘art room’ of the Kochi Muziris Biennale at Cabral Yard on Friday.
The workshop, led by V.K. Jayan, a resident of Thripunithura and a master potter, initiates interested people into the craft of making a variety of clay pots besides sculptures.
“We are teaching the participants how to make sculptures as well. Shapes of various things, living and non-living, around the world,” said Mr. Jayan, a trained sculptor whose artworks are known for their traditional charm while being open to contemporary styles.
The workshop is being organised by Kochi Biennale Foundation as part of its programme called ABC (Art By Children). “We aim to groom talents while also promoting their social interaction and sense of camaraderie,” said KBF president Bose Krishnamachari.
Blaise Joseph, who heads the ABC, said the pottery workshop would open a new world to Biennale visitors, given that clay was a medium less used by urban people. “Clay is a fundamental material and pot-making is a human activity dating back to prehistory. Over the three days here, we will get several vessels of varied shapes and sizes. We plan to assort them, fire the entire stuff over two days next month and eventually make a single terracotta artwork as a souvenir.”
Mr. Jayan hails from a potter’s family but he has also done an art course from Belgaum and Thiruvananthapuram and has been running a sculpting institution for 28 years now.
“My ancestors belong to Tamil land, from the Cauvery belt, somewhere near Kumbakonam. Ten generations ago, we migrated to today’s Kerala,” he said. “Clay, as an art medium, is largely looked down upon. Many call it ‘mud’ and find it good to make nothing more than just pots. Of late, though, there is some betterment in the status.”