Turkish artisans keep ceramic craft alight
In the Turkish city of Kutahya, ceramic artisans preserve a centuries-old craft, looking both for foreign markets and interaction with fellow craftsmen across the world.
“The firing temperature must be 980°C exactly [1,796°F] — not a bit more, not a bit less,” says Yasin, a ceramic craftsman, as he wipes his sweating forehead by the kiln of a small workshop in the historical marketplace of Kutahya.
The ancient Turkish city, located in central Anatolia, is renowned for its tradition of ceramic pottery, and Yasin has been in the business for 20 years.
He goes on to explain the arduous process behind the city’s hallmark: “First, you have to slowly heat the kiln for eight hours to 400°C [752°F] so that the raw objects in the kiln do not crack with the shock of heat. Then you increase the temperature from 400 to 980°C at a shot. The objects are fired for five hours at 980°C, after which the kiln is left to slowly cool on its own. Once the temperature falls to exactly 70°C [158°F], you open the kiln. The whole heating and cooling process of the kiln takes about three days.”
After three days of patient labor at the kiln, Yasin has the dried and fired pieces ready for coloring and decoration in a separate workshop.
