Last year during our creative travel retreat to India, our attendees got a chance to meet with and learn from several local artists and artisans groups in rural communities in Rajasthan.
One of the most memorable experiences was watching a local potter use his non-electric wheel to mold clay, and create stunning pieces of everyday pottery items. The heavy wooden wheel sits on a tiny wooden spindle and after the initial momentum to get the wheel in motion, it needs to be restarted every so often.
The beauty of the process and the simplicity of the tools used really spoke to the art and craft of clay pottery.
We even got a chance to try our own hand at the wheel and with a lot of guidance, encouragement and help from him, created several of our own masterpieces
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The highlight, of course, was getting a tour of his home cum studio and learning about the homemade kiln where all the made pottery is cooked, baked and finished for sale. And his pieces don’t make it to a fancy shop or showroom in the city. His pieces are actually used by his neighbors and sold in the local village market for everyday use.
One of the core missions of CulturallyOurs is to connect the audience to everyday people, local artists and experiences that really help bridge the gap between what you see in a guide book verses what life is really like on the ground. This same principal and approach is also used when planning and executing our travel retreats so as to really help you experience a place to the fullest – by visiting, living in and connecting with local communities and their people.
If you are interested in being a part of future CulturallyOurs retreats, feel free to sign up to be notified when the next retreat will be announced.
A recap of our November 2018 creative travel retreat to India showcase all the wonderful people, places and activities we got to experience.
Here is a quick video of the potter setting up his wheel, preparing the clay and creating some of his pieces.
Traditional Hand Thrown Ceramics From Rajasthan India
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