Early Learning & Teaching with Clay
Other Cultures
communicating through clay
Through clay we can facilitate children’s appreciation of cultural diversity
In 2013, the International Year of Water Co-operation the ELC hosted Manori Lal and Banay Sing who joined Ann Ferguson in residency at the ELC as members of cross cultural collaborative group 'Crosshatched' (www.crosshatched123.com).
The two men are traditional potters from Rajasthan, specialising in water pots (matkas) and drinking vessels (chai cups). The children were given the opportunity to ‘throw’ their own uniquely formed pot, using a traditional, hand-turned, potter’s wheel. This collaborative process allowed the children to experience the transformation of form and the sensory movement of the clay and wheel beneath their hands under the patient guidance of the experienced potters.
The Rajasthani potters were also artists-in-residence at the studio of Sandra Bowkett in Tallarook where they made traditional matkas (water pots) and modified matkas for sculptural installations. This year a wood-fired kiln was built specifically to enhance the colour and surface of the pots. In the clay program the children created a clay block model of Sandra’s kiln, placing miniature wood-fired pots in the firing chamber.
The Early Learning Centre purchased a number of modified matkas for the children to embellish in the clay program. They applied different coloured clay slips to the leather-hard surface of the unfired vessel, into which they inscribed their own designs (sgraffito). The children’s ‘Stack of Worlds’ installed temporarily in the Earth Matters exhibition, celebrates this unique cross-cultural collaboration. It will find a permanent home in the garden of the Early Learning Centre.
The older children worked with the concept of the pot representing a globe of the world. They painted symbolic countries on the leathery surface of the modified matka with clay slip, which they further embellished with sgraffiti markings. Other children then linked the different countries with connecting ocean symbols.
Through clay we can facilitate children’s appreciation of cultural diversity
In 2013, the International Year of Water Co-operation the ELC hosted Manori Lal and Banay Sing who joined Ann Ferguson in residency at the ELC as members of cross cultural collaborative group 'Crosshatched' (www.crosshatched123.com).
The two men are traditional potters from Rajasthan, specialising in water pots (matkas) and drinking vessels (chai cups). The children were given the opportunity to ‘throw’ their own uniquely formed pot, using a traditional, hand-turned, potter’s wheel. This collaborative process allowed the children to experience the transformation of form and the sensory movement of the clay and wheel beneath their hands under the patient guidance of the experienced potters.
The Rajasthani potters were also artists-in-residence at the studio of Sandra Bowkett in Tallarook where they made traditional matkas (water pots) and modified matkas for sculptural installations. This year a wood-fired kiln was built specifically to enhance the colour and surface of the pots. In the clay program the children created a clay block model of Sandra’s kiln, placing miniature wood-fired pots in the firing chamber.
The Early Learning Centre purchased a number of modified matkas for the children to embellish in the clay program. They applied different coloured clay slips to the leather-hard surface of the unfired vessel, into which they inscribed their own designs (sgraffito). The children’s ‘Stack of Worlds’ installed temporarily in the Earth Matters exhibition, celebrates this unique cross-cultural collaboration. It will find a permanent home in the garden of the Early Learning Centre.
The older children worked with the concept of the pot representing a globe of the world. They painted symbolic countries on the leathery surface of the modified matka with clay slip, which they further embellished with sgraffiti markings. Other children then linked the different countries with connecting ocean symbols.
The Early Learning Centre purchased a number of modified matkas for the children to embellish in the clay program. They applied different coloured clay slips to the leather-hard surface of the unfired vessel, into which they inscribed their own designs (sgraffito). The children’s ‘stack of worlds’ installed temporarily in the exhibition, which celebrates this unique cross-cultural collaboration, will find a permanent home in the garden of the Early Learning Centre.
The older children worked with the concept of the pot representing a globe of the world. They painted symbolic countries on the leathery surface of the modified matka with clay slip, which they further embellished with sgraffiti markings. Other children then linked the different countries with connecting ocean symbols.
The older children worked with the concept of the pot representing a globe of the world. They painted symbolic countries on the leathery surface of the modified matka with clay slip, which they further embellished with sgraffiti markings. Other children then linked the different countries with connecting ocean symbols.