MaM #4

Name: Habib

Profession: Potter

Place of Work: Qalala

Number of Years Working: +50

Work Schedule: 6AM-sunset, winters off unless the sun is brightly shining

Number of Training Years Needed to be Qualified to Work: 15-25

Number of Qualified People in B-town: 5-6

On Women as Potters: Pottery is difficult/excellent (there is a word in Darija that conveys both meanings). You must be very strong. You might be asked to make a pot that is more than a meter tall, and you must be able to lift it. So women and girls cannot be potters. (*Ironic to me, since women knead bread, run households without modern appliances, carry a week's worth of food from souq, clean up after men...oh, I can go on.)

On his Work: He'll make anything that customers want. From a town outside of Bejaad, Qalala workers will bring in clay. It's not fine clay like in Esfi (beach-town known for its ceramics). With water drawn from the well on-site, the skilled men knead the clay. In one of six cave-like stations, men throw clay on a foot-operated wheel (no electricity involved). They use one small shaper, a wire to cut the clay, and their hands. After the pieces dry, they are fired on-site, using rubber tires as fuel for the kiln. Local associations and stores buy and paint items from the Qalala. (*interesting side note, the motifs on the clay mugs are regional, so one can tell where a mug is from based on the design)

On the Future of Local Pottery: Boys don't want to learn. They can learn to make cups and bowls in 3 years or make bricks, like the ones drying outside, but they don't want to learn how to make vases. People want plastic. Plastic cups, plastic bowls, plastic buckets. It's cheap. No one wants traditional, hand-made ceramics anymore.