“Atölye Çamurdan”: A fragile tradition

by Sibel DORSAN

The myriad artefacts conceived and born in this Ankara workshop are the fruit not only of human imagination and toil but of an ancient Anatolian earthenware tradition. Here, there are no barriers between life and labour. Production and tuition go hand in hand, and a workplace is also a community.

After that first acquaintance twelve years ago with the shared story of mud and fire, we started to knead together our diverse experiences. And the more questions we asked, the more questions we had. The more things we produced the more we wanted to produce.”

So begins the story of Atölye Çamurdan – the ‘Workshop Out Of Mud’ – as much a community as a pottery; a culture as well as a workplace. Then they were four, all with a passion for earthenware. But since 2000, the devotion of Tuğba Ülker and Funda Özkan have kept the oven burning - a hive of toil and creativity in the dense urbanity of Kavaklıdere.

 “We shape from mud all the items we can, one at a time, always by hand, working into the material our designs, our points of view, our unresolved quests. Our products fall under many headings, with or without function: lighting components playing with fire and light; products which we enjoy seeing and using in our homes; wall panels which tell stories and are pleasant to behold, and sculptures that bear witness to individual voyages.”

In touch with the past

Many of the ceramics which adorn the entrance to the workshop are unique, reflecting only the peculiar styles of the artists. The customers are often foreigners to Turkey. At the same time, the bills must be paid. Like it or not, the products which prove most popular are reproduced, and product lines may be influenced by trend-setting international expositions.

But whatever the final shape, the process of its production is embedded in a millennial tradition. Ülker and Özkan count themselves lucky to have grown up in the culture of Anatolia, scene of the history of ceramics – to be able to “speak the same language” as the first experts; to have inherited skills passed from generation to generation. The “mud” which their fingers shape is the same reddish terra cotta that has been worked in the Mediterranean and Anatolia since the first settlements came into being. It is flexible and lithe - easily formed and re-formed, added and removed. Baked at low temperature, it metamorphoses into solid objects both gentle and fragile.

Material matters

These days the earth is prepared and cleaned for use in a laboratory environment. A batch of raw material requires testing over a period of 2-3 months. How will it react at what temperature? To which glaze it is best adopted? It is difficult to find clay of the same quality all year round, and there is always a risk of wasted effort and unexpected costs.

Ceramic art is a costly business. There are many materials to be tried, many types of glazes, many methods of firing. Each developing artist must make hundreds of experiments. There are many talented young people but only a few have the patience and wherewithal to persevere. Others turn to related occupations. For those who carry on, it is a labour of love.

Sharing skills

The creators of Atölye Çamurdan make a point of transferring their knowledge and skills to others through tuition classes:

“We have shared our conversation with mud, the products of this hard and joyful adventure, with all those who wanted to be a part of it. We have taught the language we have learned from the mud to all those who wanted to speak it. Whatever we have experienced during the course of the production process - whatever there is to be experienced – we have passed it on to our students right here in the workshop.”

Every other Saturday evening, the steady workshop routine makes way for a much-needed moment of relaxation as habitués and colleagues gather for a mug of hot wine, some music or a slide show, and perhaps some traditional country food. The company is fine, the conversation good – and they are looking forward to seeing new friends.

(DIPLOMAT – March 2005)