The Clay Moults

Now the traditional pottery-related image that comes to mind would be the kumhar squatting over his wheel, working away on a lump of clay with the fruits of his labour stacking up behind him. But that image has become so last century—now with studio pottery, the ceramics scene in India has gone for an image makeover. “Studio pottery is when people set up personalised workspaces, marking their individuality on their works,” says Vineet Kacker, a contemporary Indian potter. Functionality or form are not defined in this set-up, and finding, establishing an identity is of the core essence. Naturally, this has led to a shift from the traditional ways. “My personal choices moved away from traditional pottery to modern forms because functional pottery wouldn’t help me earn a living or help build my reputation as a ceramic artist,” says Vineet.

Even now, the posse of studio potters in India is not large, but it’s significant. Artistes like Manisha Bhattacharya, Vinod Daroz, Antra Sinha, Shirley Bhat­nagar, Aarti Vir, Rakhee Kane Jad­eja to name a few are not only questioning traditional forms and techniques, but also giving pottery their own spin in form and execution. Potter Mansimran Singh, who is following on the legacy of father Gurucharan Singh (the pioneer of studio pottery in India), has a qui­rky take on why functional pott­ery didn’t work in India—it’s because of the eternal obsession in Indian hou­s­eholds of scrubbing utensils till they sparkle. “However, with globa­lisation, glazed pottery and dishwa­shers, ceramic wares are creeping into everyday kitchens,” says Mansimran.

The pottery tradition in India dates back to the Neolithic period, where it existed mainly as a utilitarian craft— different types of bowls, jars and vess­els were made, painted with pale grey, red, orange, brown and black cream slips. From then to the 21st century, pottery in India has gone through its own evolution, says art critic and curator Uma Nair. Pottery as an object of desire first came about with the beautification and embellishment of utilitarian shapes. Archaeo­logical finds sug­gest that between 200 BC and 650 AD decorated pottery dominated even as a socio-economic indicator, decoration being done by stamping, pai­nting, melding and applique work. Mus­lim conquerors in 12th century AD bro­ught with them rural potters from their hom­eland to settle in the country, leading to an exchange and upgrading of skills and a growth in the rural potters’ industry. Findings of china clay in the Rajmahal hills (in today’s Jharkhand) in the 1860s and the establishment of the first glazing unit took the craft further away from its functional form.

Ceramics being recognised as a sculptural tool has led to interior designers and decorators also looking at the med­ium for inspiration. Interior desi­g­ner Shabnam Gupta says she “works with two ceramic artistes to create installations and sculptures in the spaces that we design. The understanding of ceramics as part of architecture as seen in Spanish and Mexican designs is filtering into India...people are opening up to the idea”. Pondicherry-based artist Ray Meeker’s project with Egyptian architect Hasan Fathy, where they built sturdy houses which were fired rock-solid by turning the house into a kiln, was one of the first architectural projects which brought to light the many uses of ceramic. Uma Nair says, “What started with the understanding that form follows function has changed now to inventiveness, which takes pottery far away from its utilitarian purposes.”

Apart from exhibiting in galleries and individual shows, many ceramic artistes are also taking up commissioned work now. “What ceramic art needs is more visibility. As opposed to paintings, ceramics has fewer takers. There are no galleries that showcase ceramics and even the ones open to ceramic shows don’t do it often enough,” says Kacker. Art curator Alka Pandey says, “The lines between ceramics as an art and craft are blurring, the medium is beginning to be included in the formal language of art.”

In the country’s evolving arts scene, ceramics and pottery is still a child finding its feet, evident in the footfalls at exhibitions, the price at which art works are valued and actual sales figures. But Alka seems optimistic. “The growth might not be at par with paintings, but with the development of infrastructure and a growing inventiveness, the evolving medium of ceramics could just be the future.”

But what of traditional pottery then? In places like Chunar in UP and Karigiri in South Arcot district of Tamil Nadu, traditional glazing in red clay is still quite popular. In Garamur in Assam, pottery made from beaten clay and fired with driftwood draws parallels with pottery made during the Harappan civilisation. Khurja, in the Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh, is the largest producer of functional decorated pottery in the country, sales for which have bloomed with the coming of retail stores that serve as outlets for the products.

But that’s only part of the story, a distressing trend is the general loss of appeal for traditional pottery. Mansi­mran feels the shift in village structures has contributed to this. “Production costs in rural areas have gone up. Earlier, the village kumhar was given amenities, like common land from where he could source his clay. Now, with modern technology and altering customer tastes, rural artisans are finding it hard to keep up with studio potters,” he says.