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| Carlos e Xana, the Molelos Innovators |
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Carlos Lima and Alexandra Monteiro live and work in the village of Molelos, close to Viseu in the Beira Alta region of Portugal. Carlos' and Xana’s workshop is called “Hut of the Potters”, and is located hidden at the end of the village, surrounded by pine trees. When we enter in this hut, we come across several clays waiting for the most favourable time to be cooked in the firewood oven, and of which no one knows which shape they will get. In another room, there are gathered some already cooked pieces, with quite daring decoration and shapes. Molelos is one of the last places where ceramics still is manufactured by the process of reduction cooking that allows the obtaining of objects of black clay. This process consists in the complete obstruction of the pottery pieces at the end of the cooking creating an atmosphere loaded with carbon which deposits all over the pieces. A physical-chemical transformation of the metallic oxides of the clays due to the carbon monoxide takes place, and so the typical colour of this pottery appears. This black and shining pottery is soft to touch and its production includes a phase of meticulous finishing that gives them a perfect and beautiful look. After they leave the wheel, the pieces have to dry slowly, losing part of the water sitting in the slurry. This process can take up to three weeks, depending on the temperature and humidity of the air and demands great surveillance, because the pottery has to get dry slowly but constantly, or else there is the risk that it cracks or splits, becoming useless in this way. In Molelos, all the pieces, after they are dry and before they are entered the kiln, they are "brunidas", in other words, they are smoothed with a rolled stone, and there are pebbles, which are in possession of the same family for over a hundred years. This process of smoothing off the roughness of the clay is the one that in the end gives the characteristic and exclusive metallic shine to these pieces of black clay from Molelos. For Carlos and Xana the future lies in innovation. In keeping the finishing that have always characterised the art of Molelos, these artists produce daring and unusual shapes, profiting from the traditional techniques that allow to obtain the polished surfaces, and in combination with other techniques make perfect incisions with several utensils, e.g. starting with branches and several others. According to these two artisans, the divulgation of the black pottery of Molelos depends on a changing cultural attitude of nowadays’ potters, who have begun innovating. In fact, they impersonate the innovation in this traditional activity, which has about a dozen of potters in this village. The artistic innovation of these potters lies on the fact that they are making experiments with the composition of the raw material of their art, and also with the use of the traditional oriental Raku cooking technique. Carlos has won several prizes, and through innovation, he has been able to achieve the transition between the cultural tradition of this region and his art. |
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Cachepot (tall) Black Clay Cachepot |
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Cachepot (pot-bellied) Black Clay Cachepot |
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Raku Conic Boxe Glazed Clay Conic Boxes |
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