Women Potters

"Moira Vincentelli, proposes that a women's tradition in ceramics is one in which the making of pottery is a gendered activity intimately connected with female identity. The knowledge is passed down from one generation to the next, mother to daughter, aunt to niece. In much of Africa, South East Asia, Oceania and among the indigenous peoples of the Americas this is still the case today, but even in Europe and the Middle East there are villages that preserve such traditions. The work is usually handbuilt and fired in a bonfire or a simple kiln, as women's traditions rarely involve wheel throwing. It is mostly functional pottery for cooking, storage and water but its everyday purpose belies the deep symbolic meanings that it may also carry - from beer pots for celebrations and ritual drinking to broken pots as symbols of death. There is also a chapter on figurative ceramics made by women." "The author guides the reader through these traditions continent by continent. Different areas are illustrated with beautiful, detailed maps and fascinating colour photographs from around the world. Central to the argument of this book is the proposition that, far from disappearing as is so often claimed, these traditions are adapting and accommodating to new conditions. Often the potters are the bearers of cultural identity in an increasingly globalised world. They respond in creative and dynamic ways to opportunities offered by craft markets, demonstrations, art exhibitions, museum and tourist outlets. This book should appeal not only to those interested in ceramics, but will also be important for those with an interest in world art outside the western tradition, in women's studies, material culture, archaeology and social anthropology."--BOOK JACKET.

Year

2004

Language

English

Publisher

Rutgers University Press

Editions

3

Pages

240

ISBN

9780813533810

Data source: Wikidata