Supporting the Ceramics Tradition in Istalif
Istalif is a beautiful village north of Kabul. Its gardens are full of mulberry and walnut trees, with flowing waters below. A vibrant community of potters lives in Istalif and the surrounding hills. They have been producing ceramics for over three centuries.
Each potter and his family can trace their lineage back to one potter and spiritual leader, Bahawuddin Bala Gardan, who came to Istalif from Bukhara 300 years ago. The story they tell most frequently of Bahawuddin is that he took seven students when he arrived in Istalif, and taught them the art of pottery. A prince, Shah-e-Naqshband, travelled to Istalif to study with Bahawuddin and begged to learn ceramics. Bahawuddin saw him on his fine horse, wearing expensive silk clothes, and did not believe he could handle the hard work and messy clay. He decided to test him: he told Naqshband to bring him the livers of three sheep from the bazaar, without them touching. When Bahawuddin saw Naqshband climbing the steep hill from the bazaar to the potters’ community, carrying one liver in each hand and the third in his mouth, he could see that he was strong, brave, and willing to do anything. The master began teaching his new student that very day.
Istalifi pottery is the strongest surviving ceramics tradition in Afghanistan. Despite the disruption of decades of conflict, the potters continue ancient techniques, including the use of bright green, manganese black and turquoise glazes first seen in the region in the 9th and 10th centuries. Entire families and generations are involved in the production process; the family head is usually the master potter (ustad) and his son the apprentice (shahgerd). The women of the family decorate the bowls and plates with incised patterns of squares and ‘S’ shapes.
But the bowls and plates made in Istalif are often made from inferior clay and coated in a lead-based glaze. They are fired unevenly in wood kilns, and stacked upside down in the kiln using small tripod stilts that leave small scars on the bowls. With these flaws they are losing their domestic markets in Afghanistan, and have no hope for attracting international buyers.
Turquoise Mountain’s School of Ceramics works with Istalifi masters and students to overcome these challenges. At the School, the potters are learning how to build and use gas kilns, which are more cost effective and stop much of the deforestation caused by cutting timber for wood kilns; how to replace lead glazes with non-toxic glazes without a loss of quality; and how to improve the quality and consistency of the finished pots through better clays and new working practices that do not compromise traditional techniques.
A Ceramics Visitor and Resource Centre we established in Istalif promotes and supports the craft industry within the village itself.
Posted 20th May 2008
