Making CLAY POTS With 60 years Experienced Hands.

Kneading, moulding, firing and dyeing are just the few steps required in the making of a clay pot in Africa. The entire process of making a pot traditionally is pretty intensive and it can take as long as seven days from start to finish. In this line of work, nothing can be rushed. We took a trip to the biggest pottery in the north-central part of Nigeria to see how this 70-year-old woman makes her pots. Born to a family of potters, Alhaja Raleigh Asaka, the head potter in this household, has been in the business of pottery all her life. And while pottery has been largely modernised, Alhaja is still one of the very few potters who have continued to produce vessels using traditional methods. She shows us the steps involved in the transformation of a pot After clay is dug up from river banks, it is set aside to dry. After which, water is mixed into the clay and stored in a big clay drum in a slurry state. When a potter is ready to make a pot, she takes a sizeable quantity of clay from the heap of clay kept for use. The quantity of clay to be used is determined by the size and shape of the pot to be made. There are no measuring scales for this. Experience and eyes are mostly relied on. Once the quantity needed is taken from the drum, iwunyo is added to it. Clay in itself is too sticky to handle. So in order to lessen the stickiness, iwunyo is added to improve plasticity and also to open up the clay for air to penetrate through, which makes it pliable. This is where production begins. Iwunyo is sieved with a mesh sieve to remove impurities like stone, debris and twigs. The clay mix is then kneaded until the desired texture for the type of pot to be made is achieved. This process is crucial. If the right consistency is not gotten before moving on to the next step, everything could fall apart. Too soft and the shape won't hold. Too hard and it will require a lot of effort and quite a bit of frustration to get the shape needed. Next, an already made pot is used to form the vessel's body. Tools for shaping and smoothening the surface are usually the core of a maize cob, a shell of a bilbeb fruit or a polishing stone. Today, Alhaja is using a favourite tool which is a maize cob to impress designs on the pot. Once this is done, the pot is exposed to sunlight for two to three days to dry. Another pot that is completely dry is what is being used now to show how the upper part of the pot is shaped. Coils of clay are carefully layered to build the pot higher and form the pot's ring. Once it is tall enough, the ring is made by smoothing the clay with a damp cloth while the potter walks backwards around the pot. The outside is smoothed with a sliver of bamboo. Total concentration is needed here. Attention needs to be paid to every little and tiny detail if a pot is going to come out perfectly. The pot is then set aside to air dry for some time. If the sun is too hot, they are moved under the shade to avoid too much heat which could crack the rims or even the whole pot. Once the pot is bone dry, it is now time for firing. There are varieties of ways by which firing can be achieved. Every step of production in this pottery is traditional and manual from moulding to firing. The simplest method is the bonfire firing which is also the most widespread technique in Africa. However, despite the simplicity, open air firing requires a high level of skill and observation to control the temperature. The women depend on experience to determine how hot the fire is. A fire that burns too hot or too quickly can cause the pot to break during firing. Not hot enough and there's the risk of under-fired pots. The largest pots are placed in the center. Smaller pots are packed around them and more vessels are stacked on top until all the pots made throughout the week are piled up. As the bonfire burns down, the potters carefully remove the pots from the fire. While still hot, some types of pots are dunked in a low-cast bean solution which seals and darkens their surface. Isasun, specifically made for cooking soups, is one of the vessels usually dyed black with this concussion. Finally, potters dye the pots after which the pots are left to dry. This is how hundreds of items are produced every week here. From cooking and storage pots to flower pots and even money safes. Work produced at this pottery is displayed just outside the compound for locals working to and fro to see. Interested people can then come in to purchase as they desire. The pots are also taken to the market on market days to sell. The practice of pottery by these women have made them self-employed. Some of them are widows and this is what puts food on their tables every day. It is a hard job with small profits but these women are grateful they are not only able to earn themselves daily income but preserve their culture and tradition. Alhaja is making sure this craft never dies and is passed on to the younger generations by making sure her granddaughters are well versed in this. Thank you for watching. Don't forget to like and subscribe.