Three hundred-plus students from MES College of Arts and Commerce, Vasco, and Kendriya Vidyalaya, Vasco, were taught about ceramics as an art form, as part of dedicated workshops at the Museum of Goa (MOG), Pilerne, during the recently concluded ‘Unearthed’ exhibition held at the Museum of Goa, Pilerne.
The 16-day immersive exhibition paid homage to clay as a versatile, durable medium of artistic expression, with exhibits by six Goa-based women ceramics artists, Avani Tanya, Nimmy Joshi, Ragini Deshpande, Tanushree Singh, Aditi Kashyap and Khushboo Madnani.
According to Sharada Kerkar, operational head at MOG and co-founder of the Children’s Arts Studio (CAS), the ‘Unearthed’ exhibition, supported by Mumbai-based Bhoomi Pottery, was extremely successful in showcasing the artists’ stories to thousands of people, fulfilling the exhibition’s aim of introducing a widespread audience to the ancient craft of ceramics.
“We have had students coming and participating in the art workshops and going on guided tours of the exhibition. Several students of the Goa College of Art, Altinho and others interested in ceramics participated in three hands-on ceramics workshops – ‘Obvara Firing Workshop’ by Khushboo Madnani of Studio Klay, ‘Raku Workshop’ by Clayton D’Souza of Mud Skippers Studio and ‘The Pot & I: Self-Portraits in Clay’ by Aditi Kashyap and Shailee Mehta of Baadalghar – that were held during the exhibition,” said Kerkar.
The six women ceramicists also gave a talk during a MOG Sunday event, with which the exhibition’s final day coincided, during which they outlined their respective creative processes. The ceramicists also interacted personally with the audience, giving them more insight into their artistic journeys.
Ragini Deshpande’s exhibit ‘Verses of the Heart’ explored the impermanence of human emotions, Aditi Kashyap paid a ceramic tribute to the reciprocal relationship between humans and nature, Avani Tanya’s work was an ode to fluvial landforms, Khushboo Madnani explored ceramics as an extension of her physical being, Nimmy Joshy’s ceramics highlighted her ode to Goa as her chosen home and Tanushree Singh’s works explored the ideas of memory and trauma.
The Clay Bazaar, a pop-up, rounded off the exhibition with 10 different ceramicists, Thomas The Potter, Subodh Kerkar, Studio Tralala, PAKHO, Mrtsna, Bipasa Sen Gupta, GLAM & GLAZE, Mud Skippers, Ugly Plasticine and Think Clay showcasing their work to an expansive audience. Visitors sampled delicious food from a stall set up by Ninoshka’s Hub and quenched their thirst with refreshing drinks from a stall set up by Planet Fluid.
CAS also organised workshops for people of all ages on the event’s final day – ‘Children’s Painting Competition’, ‘Shigmo Spectacle: Paper Mache Clay Painting Workshop’, ‘Pot People: Crafting Whimsical Characters From Everyday Objects’, ‘Artful Bags: Upcycled Tote Bag Painting Party’ – which enjoyed a high attendance rate.
“Several children between the ages of four and 15 participated in the workshops and also gave their all in a painting competition where they were given terracotta tiles to paint in the Azulejos style, using ‘Goa’ as a theme,” said Kerkar.
The ‘Unearthed’ exhibition marked a landmark event for MOG as the first all-women exhibition, with the Museum planning to host similar events and more exhibitions featuring the craft of ceramics.
