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Demo, Sale and Film Screening with Three Tibetan "Nixi" Potters

Please join us for this very special event! On Monday, August 9th from 7-9pm, Greenwich House Pottery will host Tibetan potters from Nixi who will present their work and share their story.

With funding from the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and others, The Mountain Institute (TMI) has been working with Tibetan potters from Nixi in Diqing Prefecture, Northwest Yunnan Province to resuscitate a dying cultural tradition and community industry whose earliest historical references have been traced back more than 1,200 years.

Several potters have just recently received multiple trainings in Jingdezhen, the ceramics capital of China, with Kathy Erteman, a New York-based artist and designer who has been working with the Nixi potters since 2007, most recently on a study tour in Jingdezhen, China . Three Nixi potters and Ms. Erteman will present this program and their work to members of Greenwich House Pottery and guests on the evening of Monday, August 9th.

Traditional Tibetan black pottery production is an important economic activity in a large number of villages in this mountainous region where the resource base is poor. Pottery production is a labor-intensive activity and its making, depending on its size and quality of the objects, is an elaborate process. Family members take part in the production process throughout the day.

For these families, pottery is more than a way to make a living. Pottery is a marker of status and community involvement, and making pottery creates an important connection to the village and local cultural traditions. Artisans describe pottery as reflecting indigenous sensibilities and images that include patterns and motifs that derive from their rich Tibetan Buddhist heritage. The pottery reflects cultural and local history as well as the changing tastes of international consumers. That said, artisans talk about black pottery in a way that celebrates cultural traditions rather than consumption and economics.

Extra Special Thanks to GHP faculty member Kathy Erteman for making this evening possible!