Decorative clay potteries still appeal to Bangladeshis
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E-mail Xinhua, September 20, 2017
While in many parts of the world clay potteries are becoming less popular due to low-cost and metal-based alternatives, people in Bangladesh still have a fondness for the items and are keeping the tradition alive.
This can be deduced as an estimated half a million people from around 600 villages in the country are still directly engaged in pottery making.
In Dhaka alone, there are hundreds of pottery shops selling a variety of clay-based, household items.
Industry insiders said the situation over the last few years has gradually improved as the potters have started to incorporate very attractive designs on the pottery items and the quality and overall aesthetic values of their works have greatly improved.
People in the Bangladeshi capital throughout the whole year and especially during both religious and non-religious festivals visit pottery shops to procure items comprising an array of styles, techniques, colors and textures.
Shanta Ghosh is one such customer with interest for clay pottery items and showpieces.
The Hindu woman has been busy recently browsing through decorative clay pieces at a roadside stall in Dhaka.
"Our Durga Puja (the largest Hindu festival) is coming soon. I have come here to buy some colorfully-designed clay potteries which are also needed to celebrate the festival."
She said pottery has a uniquely tempting appeal during many other Begali festivals too.
"Puja and many other Bengali cultural festivals remain incomplete without clay pottery items, so we like to purchase some beautiful clay artifacts."
In Dhaka, people also flock to such shops even on non-festive days and especially on the weekends.
Zakia Sultana, a Muslim woman, has come from Narayanganj on the outskirts of Dhaka in search of some traditional artifacts.
"Basically, we can get fancy clay items here. I think that we need to have such items in our house to keep our culture," said Sultana.
"I have come here to buy some pottery for my own home. I think that the government or regular citizens should buy these items to support the industry. We should give encouragement to those who are working in this industry."
Designer pieces can be easily found in shops in Dhaka and potters in the city often paint decorative pieces, including terracotta items, in front of their roadside stalls.
Mohammad Rafiqul Islam is a potter-cum-shop owner and his clay-based decorative pieces, which include terracotta items, are available at his store named Ripon Pottery based in the capital of Bangladesh.
"Our products are brought here from different districts. We collect them from rural villages and sell them here after adding further decoration. Every day we sell 2,000 to 3,000 taka-worth of goods (24-36.5 U.S. dollars)," said Islam.
"In Boishakh (the first month of the Bengali Year), we usually get many domestic and foreign buyers looking to purchase our clay made items."
Debashish Paul, chairman and associate professor of the Ceramic Department of the Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Dhaka, said, "Our traditional pottery is the only red terracotta work that can not be seen anywhere else in the world."
He said the demand for clay pottery products plunged in Bangladesh as plastic and other low cost artifacts became more "en vogue."
"If we want to see these traditional potteries fused with more dynamism and advanced beauty, not only in Bangladesh but also in the world, we have to give our artists a modern education and adequate modern ceramic materials," said Paul, whose first international exhibition was held in Beijing in 2008 as part of an Olympic art exhibition.
"China's pottery has its own traditions and their traditions are modern to us. Our country's potters are mostly poor and they are not able to export their items to China or to South Korea," said Paul who joined international-level symposium in China more than six times.
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