The last week in Delhi was hectic but fruitful, the major achivement being to deliver Stacks in Balance to it’s permanent home at the Crafts Museum.

Peter and I had a short stay in Agra ( with a view of the Taj Mahal from room window) where I wrote the following

   A room with a view.

The full throwing story

The  journey of reprogramming  my potters practice from ‘single piece throwing’ to ‘throwing off the hump’ by the traditional Indian potters techniques in the  family workshop  of Manohar Lal ( Manori) and Karlo Devi;  oldest son Pappy and wife Anju , children Nisha 4 and  Yogesh 1; middle son Jugdish and wife Pooja, children, Lokesh 3 and Lilum , and youngest son Kushi Ram in Kumhaargram, Vikas Nagar New Delhi. February, March, April 2012

 To begin, find the right height ‘stool’ to face the 2 speed, low electric wheel. One of the Rajasthani  low cane stool is just right, and comfortable.

  Have someone wedge the prepared clay to ensure, the clay pounded from clods, slaked overnight and then gathered and mixed by foot is consistent.  I recycle most of the small pieces I throw therefore I make little impact on the large amount of clay the family had prepared for me.  The clay was soft and easy to throw but the many small stones presented challenges.  Although I try to participate in this wedging process, as the clay is a large amount I am happy to have them do it and figure ‘at home’ I will have to do it. They also think it is inappropriate for me to do this work as it is for cleaning my work area or washing the towel I use at the end of a day.

Manori usually wedged the clay and then centred this approx 4kg amount, in one movement, with the wheel on fastest speed, it was only on the last days throwing I successfully achieved this initial centring, someone was always there to do it for me, once again I am thinking, at home I would probably start with about 2 kg that I could manage to roughly centre.

First challenge; to master the open ended cutting thread, a short length, approx 15cm of thick cotton thread  with a small piece of cane/matchstick on one end. It is difficult to verbalize this process, but an awareness of the right spot to place the thread, held between thumb and pointer Jugdish insisted, and let the rotation of the wheel pull the thread through the clay to make a flat bottom came after a time as practice of the various throwing movements came together.

 Second challenge; was to lift the piece from the hump after cutting and place it for drying, if the piece was too fine it could collapse, I was aiming for the thickness to successfully lift and place the piece but minimise turning.

 First throwing and cutting attempts prompted Manori to render some assistance.  For a short while he threw the small lamp, made in the lakhs (100,000) in the village and I cut and placed the piece as I had seen throughout the village over the years, to be actually doing this team throwing was very satisfying. However the very crude cup forms I then went on to make was less than satisfying. After years of making refined forms in my previous throwing, it seems regressive to be only able to make something very rudimentary.

  Team Throwing with Manori

 on my first day on the wheel

I aimed to sit and throw daily, to develop some rhythms that would  become second nature as I had observed in the work of potters in the village, how optimistic in the space of 3 months where they have has a lifetime to develop these skills. My intention was to be able achieve consistently 2 sizes of  beakers and bowls.

Practice; After getting an idea of some, new to me, basic throwing techniques, opening out the clay, working from the far side with two hands engaged, in the bringing up/out I established a routine for my throwing. In each throwing session, one hump of clay, I would concentrate on one shape, trying to find the pattern in minimal movements that would result in consistent  shapes. It was a luxury to have clay at hand to make and recycle endlessly and not to have to have an outcome. However there were frustrations,  e.g consistently doing that which ended with the clay tearing near the base, subtle changes  in pressure and movements ended in being able to make small dishes and beakers I was happy with. However the shapes were still relatively ‘uninteresting’. At the end of most days work I would photograph the collection, choose a few to keep for firing, impress my thumbprint as a signature and with a piece of cane  write the date and later draw /describe the newly discovered movements.

Jugdish offering some advise

 The Location On my way to and from Manori’s and other meanerings around Kumhaargram I was able to watch many potters making what I had come to know as ‘use and throw’ items, ranging from the tiny diya (lamps), beakers for chai, lassi and icecreams to larger cooking pots with lids made for 5 star hotels and upmarket restaurants. I was told 500 rupee bryani dishes (labourers’ daily wage about 200 rupees).  

 Bharat Singh

 Kajor Ram making bryani

  cooking pots

 Beside me, working throwing large flowers pots was Jugdish and Manori, Pooja preparing clay for them as they threw up to 100 pieces that filled the available space for one days work while the pots from the day before had been stacked to dry waiting for the about once weekly firing. Although there was always visitors to the space and the children close by I was able to focus on the throwing. The unpredictability of the power source added an element of uncertainty, and sometimes a welcome break. I found the low sitting position great for shoulders and arms and being able to brace your arms with knees for centering was powerful but the knees suffered from the squatting position.

My throwing program was then interrupted for a month by the sculpture project that resulted in Stacks in Balance.

On returning to the wheel I made slow progress in making larger and more defined forms.

 Mumbai A trip to  work with the Galwani family of Kumbarwala, Dharavi for a week challenged the techniques I was becoming familiar with in Kumhaargram. This family has two workshops, the production workshop where they use traditional techniques of 7 generations and a workshop where they have students that come to learn pottery techniques that have been influenced from contemporary studio throwing from the west with Hanif. I worked beside Abas and Usef in the workers workshop for several days and developed a style that combined their suggestions, Rajasthani techniques and some of my own. The clay was very plastic and once again I took the same approach to a throwing session, i.e. concentrating on one form. I was again using an ‘upright’ wheel like my own but it had variable but fixed speeds. I was able to centre the kilos of clay given to me already wedged. On the second last day, Hanif decided I could benefit from other instructions so I went to the students workshop and was reintroduced to my old throwing ways the difference being that I was still throwing of the hump. Within a short while I was making  forms I was happy with. On return to the worker workshop the following day using some of this new knowledge the pieces took a step forward.

 Mumbai efforts

 Return to Kumhaargram; I had a final week to achieve what I had set out to do.  On the first day back there was no power, the weather was hot and I was feeling rather despondent, however I decided the electricity fairies where looking out for me and the village as we needed a little holiday, it meant instead of throwing I visited many of the potters I knew in the village and this restored my energy. I was ready to go the next day. By some mystery but undoubtable the influence my time in Mumbai contributing, my throwing did a leap forward. When I retuned to my Rajasthani throwing techniques there was a new ease. I also began to turn pieces, managing to center, turn and then  lift the pieces  off without stopping the wheel. I had a satisfying day of throwing and turning on my final day, arriving at forms I can see transformed by Australian clays and stoneware firing into new forms I will be happy with.

 Pieces drying

  Some of the final pieces out    of the  kiln

 Working in Kumhaargram was a vague idea I have had for some time,  it has now happened, and on returning to Australia, to my other life will appear as a wonderful dream. The generosity of the people of Kumhaargram knew no bounds. This experience has been financially supported through Asialink by Arts Victoria and Australia-India Council  and my host in India, South Asia Foundation. I thank them all for bringing this dream to a reality.

Agra April 2012

I was interested to observe the workings of this community as well as persuing my throwing experinces and from their 2nd floor workshop I was able to do this.   From this door way I was able to see aspects of the potter’s working life. It looked onto a small couryard where there was; a  community cotton waste fuel kiln,  clay was prepared, pots and  materials storage, washing dried and, it  was a general walk way. The fish, vegetable, snack food sellers and others passing by.

               Limited space is the overriding visual feature of Kumbhar Wada.  All material carried in and all products carried out by hand/head.

Packing the kiln.

Firing  the kiln ( fibre roof.)

 Packing pots for transporting

One of the numerous thoughts I am left with is how   fortunate Australian potters are. Numerous clay choises in handy sized plastic, reliability of materials, spaces to work,  knowledge of and choise related to heath hazards and a reasonable market for our population.

  Clay making.

 The end of this job for these two men below the Galwani workshop.

As to my own work, working beside Abbas and Yusef was challenging however I put this aside and struggled with Kumbhar Wada style throwing combining Rajasthani and Sandra techniques, and then with some guidance from Hanif arrived at a workable technique.

 I was also taken on a ‘tour’ of the industrial side of Dharavi. I am left with an illusive sense of this place, people going about ‘work to live’  in cramped, and often unsafe places, any descriptions I could make would not do the people justice.

Who was to be involved? The intention was to include Indian artists and artisans that had participated in other Crosshatched projects where the financial assistance had came from the AIC.

Gathering the artists. Although the activity was centred in Kumhaargram ( formally known as Hastal Village) on the outskirts of New Delhi some of us had travelled long distances to participate including Mantu who travelled from West Bengal . He, Pradyumna, Pushpa  ( Crosshatched 2009) Ann  and myself met at Uttam Nagar Metro station to travel by rickshaw to  the Prasad’s workshop for the first official day of the project. A few days earlier Bhuvnesh Prasad ( Australia 2005)  had made several large forms we were to ‘decorate’ by carving and impressing into the burnished surface. They were beautiful objects in themselves, how could we enhance them? We approached the task in different ways. Mantu Pradyumna and Pushpa transposing their lyrical graphic images onto the vessels, including the meeting at the metro station that morning and some imagery that grew from experiences in Australia, Ann the motifs responding to the  round forms and myself, relishing the opportunity to reflect on, the ground from the air, in particular the mark of water on our dry continents on a large form. We found ourselves readily settling to working quietly and comfortably in the light filled small courtyard at the Prasad workshop. Our weeks together  in Australia during Crosshatched 2009 paving the way for this level of familiarity.

Deciding  who would participate in a potters colony of approximately 700 families was not so easy. Manori was the only potter that fitted the stated criteria  and we wanted to extend the reach of the project to include a manageable ‘few others’. It took a few days to negotiate  our way to a workable team.  The other form makers, Kajor Ram, thrown forms, and Kalu Ram and family, die makers were all in close proximity to where we had established a workspace  on Manori’s rooftop which made the logistics of moving pots around easier. Over two days Manori had built a roof structure whereby we could have a shaded workspace, this was most appreciated.

Most of the forms used were derivations of the waterpot.

After much discussion and some misunderstandings we established what we wanted to do with Kalu Ram ( see his story) we enjoyed the process of creating the two parts  for a waterpot made by  moulds. The process was, he threw thick forms that at the nearly dry stage we caved our designs. There is a top and bottom mould. These are then fired.  The family then, deftly, by hand, beat clay into the bottom mould, the top mould and then join the two together. Usually a large lip is then thrown onto this form, however we required the top just to have an opening. The size being determined by the usual dimension of a thrown waterpot so when stacked they sat neatly. Time was against Kalu Ram, as the process was lengthy  as the thick clay for the moulds  had to dry, and they were the first of a two stage process, we were anxious that all would be achieved in the short time available. However, despite regular power outages, a wedding and a baby boy celebration we had a series of ‘our waterpots’ to work  on in the nick of time. We also got the family to make some waterpots using there own moulded designs to include in the stacks.

Kajor Ram  threw a series of shapes not achievable by usual waterpot making techniques, i.e  larger elongated forms.

Manori made  thrown and beaten waterpots on demand and  from the women of the family Anju, Puja and Karlo Devi  some forms using the moulds they have for making big round money boxes.

It was exciting for Ann and I to have many large forms to work on.  We painted, pressed, carved, , rubbed and sponged back, repainted and all possibilities in between. Ann had bought some earth colours from Australia however because of time constraints results from test firing these came late in the time available so we generally stayed with local colours.  As informal opportunities arose others were engaged in this decorative process.

We then had to consider how to make the structure that would support the pieces. Ann had used plough discs in the past. Hindi name for plough disc? Opportunistically I had taken a photo of a plough on a trip out of Delhi. Plough discs were not locally available. We then played with a few available props to construct a likely model and a local metal smith was called in to appraise our efforts, not possible with his equipment. Manori then suggested he could caste bases out of concrete, easy idea.

It was then to the plumbing supply shop for pipe. Long lengths were pulled from their storage into the roadway, the proprietor used to making sure the frequent traffic wasn’t ‘inconvenienced’ by the pipe in the road airspace. We then had our pipes and larger metal sleeves that would be cast in the concrete.  A few days later carrying  all the materials up to our workspace the 3 bases were made.

The next anxiety was the fire, would the pieces survive this trial? Generally yes, some pieces show evidence of the tumble stacked kiln and  a few cracks.   We were most excited  and a bit surprised to see such a collection of wonderful pieces gathered in our workspace, we had more than enough pieces to comfortably make our choices for the 3 Stacks, in fact we would have liked to include more pieces than would ‘fit’.

We had a rooftop trial setup, firstly selecting  and sorting the pieces on the ground, as it was a precarious undertaking, threading the pieces, some very heavy on the pipe with the aid of a rickety bamboo ladder we wanted to minimize time up the ladder.

Jugdish and several other helpers made this task run smoothly. Once again we were surprised and delighted with the stacks, the disparate works coming together as a whole, it was a huge relief to arrive at this stage. All travelling pieces were then bubble wrapped ready to go in the tempo ( small 3 wheel carrier) for the trip to the Visual Art Gallery at the India Habitat Centre (IHC).

The installation with the help once again of Jugdish and tempo drive Mahavir, with the aid of the galleries steel ladder, when smoothly. The work defined in the gallery space took on a new vibrant life, the range of colours from velvety blacks, earthy browns to reds and stark whites, the embossed motives and carved images contributing to an impressive work.

There had been much discussion in Kumhaargram about attending the opening and invitations extended to all who had been involved with a special effort to get the women there. Two cars were to be used and the plan was for these to leave at 4 to insure arrival at 6  for the one hour drive, one car had a flat tyre  they arrived after 7, conveniently  all the in English speeches were over and the music  had started. Their entrancedidn’t go unnoticed with the women in their very colourful saris  and general settling in sounds, I could now relax happy that they had arrived.  We all proudly gathered around the Stacks  for a group shot and then, for them  it was time  for the trip home.

Stacks in Balance. A Crosshatched  project commissioned by  the Australia –India Councils  the celebrate its 20^th Anniversary  and to be included in the Exhibition KINDNESS/UDARTA  at The Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.  

The Crosshatched Artists, India 2012:  Ann Ferguson,  Sandra Bowkett. Bhuvnesh Prasad,  Dharmveer and Rajesh Kumari,  Kalu Ram and Family, Kajor Ram, Manohar Lal and Family, Mantu Chittrakar,  Pradyumna Kumar  Pushpa Kumari;  Interpreter Vineeta Singh and with assistance from Minhazz Majumdar.

 In Hindi Kindness is expressed in many different ways.

Ann and I briefly discussed, would we address the title of the exhibition, considering the many challenges we perceived to be ahead, including a spoken language barrier and time limitations we put this aside, however, it was the generosity, trust and patience of the participants that bought this project to a successful outcome. Kindness  in its many permeations is embodied in the work.

The full story is coming but here are a few images to give you the picture.

Since then Ann and I have been working on the rooftop workshop at Manohar Lal’s and Karlo Devi’s.  It is a great place to work and we still gets lots of visitors including the youngest ones crawling up the stairs. Yesterday we had the first of the works come out of the kiln, we were relieved to see they all survived the fire. 

Recently sitting at Manahar Lal ( ML)  drinking chai, the home compound was visited by a familiar face. It was a man I had photographed extensively, with his family, working in extremely simple circumstances in 2002. He went home and retuned with a copy of those photographs. The following day with ML visited his home/workshop. He makes matka die. ( waterpots are usually made by a throwing and beating process, for a more decorative, embossed look, a two part press mould is used, these moulds are called die) It occurred to me that Ann and I could create the graphics on these die. It would utilize local technology with our designs introducing another element to Stacks 2 as well as including another family in the project. This was put to Kalu Ram  and as it is a lengthy processing decided it would be our first priority. He was then away for several days on family business in Rajasthan. Ann and I returned with Vineeta ( interpreter) two days ago to finalize our ‘wish list’, this was a lengthy process  with much clarifications and expanding on the original idea which was for Ann and I to do 2 tops each. Of each of the 4 sizes what size? The 2 middle sizes.  Should we decorate bottom half die? Yes, we would decorate one bottom half, but 4 had to be made as we required a different base to what they usually use. How could we use some of their designs? Lets get them to make 6 of their small matka, Sunita  (oldest daughter now proudly married with a young daughter and with her husbands approval is staying with her family) had expertly demonstrated how the die were used and we wanted to include her somehow. After looking at the photographs of Tallarook Stacks Kalu Ram then demonstrated how he could throw the forms he could see in the photographs, o.k, we could have 3 of them to decorate with the little metal stamps they use to create patterns for their die. Order confirmed, 4 tops, 4 bottoms, 6 of their small matka and 3 thrown forms. Yesterday  morning Ann and I were excited about the prospects of working on our own die. This enthusiasm was short lived as on arriving at Kalu Rams it was apparent we had not communicated as effectively as we had thought. There were the 3 thrown pots, (the ones not originally in the plan) and 4 bottoms, all the same size.  We wondered where our top die were? he had not made them as he thought we no longer wanted them. The power was then off most of the day and as he was going out to a baby boy celebration, to which we were invited  to ‘come and eat’( today we were told  500 people attended , maybe another miscommunication on the numbers,  and they were indignant that they did not eat until midnight, we were happy we had attended ML’s grandsons 3^rd birthday , another story, and ate at 10pam) he was not able to make them until this morning but assured us he would make them early and they would be ready to work on by midday. We did enjoy the process of carving and stamping into the bottoms yesterday  and it gave us an idea of the nature of the material we were to work with, good to impress when less than leatherhard, good for carving when leatherhard although the small stones offered resistance to a nice clean line. On arriving this morning, still no top pieces,  my first thought, “how long will the power stay on” without any sense of urgency he made the 4 tops, all the same size, to fit the 4 bottoms of yesterday, and, they would be dry enough to work on by 1.30pm. And they were, with the help of Sunita and Mahender we impressed and carved our designs into the clay. Over the morning Sunita made the 6 small waterpots using their die effortlessly. We now wait for these die to be fired so they can be used to make matka….. with our designs.

 An update. All our die have been fired and matkas made using  the die,  tomorrow we will see the finished product, we will colour them and they will be fired. 

 Team Throwing with Manohar Lal on my first day.

 Jugdish looking over my sessions work, the wheel I am using on the left.

Just before leaving for India we installed Tallarook Stacks.  Crosshatched will be doing something similar in Kumhaargram New Delhi

Welcome to my blog. I look forward to your comments.
Sandra