Residential workshops for potters

by Irangika Range

The Small and Rural Industries Ministry has implemented the pottery industry development program to promote small scale and rural potters at the pottery industrial villages islandwide to increase value addition of products and productivity to the international market.

Under this program the Ministry conducts 15-day residential training workshops to provide modern technology to potters who represent all provinces in Sri Lanka. It will also organise the pottery product exhibition, which will be held from June 4 to 6 at the National Art Gallery to appreciate potters' skills.

The Ministry has been set up the 48 pottery products manufacturing villages in Sri Lanka under the Guru Pehayen Ran Pehayata, a national program to develop 1000 industrial villages in the country. Two potters from each village will participate at this residential training camp while the National Crafts Council, Moratuwa University, Aesthetic University and other field experts will help to educate them on how to face the challenges in the local and international market.

The residential program will provide more effective techniques, designs, production cost reducing and saving time methods to burn clay, quality updating and value added increasing methods, new market trends, raw material development and modern colour combination systems to these potters.

These potters will manufacture over 1000 pottery products at the residential camp during their 15 day training and products will be displayed at the exhibition to popularise local pottery products' brand names to the export market.