Ceramics in Haiti: Introspection

I have posted about the work of building a kiln for the artisans of the Apparent Project, but I have been much slower in putting words to my own thoughts and feelings about Haiti. After dinner on our very first night in Port-au-Prince, Shelley Clay asked me about my impressions of the country so far. It was a challenging question and one that I struggled to answer honestly — sitting in the Clays’ comfortable living room, I felt strongly that I had not seen or considered enough to have a clear understanding of the country and its people.

Many images flowed through my mind as I considered the first day in Haiti. I thought of the sprawling tent city we had seen just beyond the airport parking lot, of the rutted dirt streets brimming with color and life and activity: street vendors and crowding pedestrians and brightly-painted tap-taps.

Ceramics in Haiti: Designing & Constructing the Kiln

Yesterday I wrote about our first couple of days in Haiti, and the process of gathering materials for the establishment of a ceramic studio and the construction of a kiln to be used by the artisans of the Apparent Project. As soon as our materials were gathered, we set about building the kiln, which will primarily be used to fire ceramic beads for the Apparent Project’s line of hand-made jewelry.

On our second evening in Port-au-Prince, Scottie and I sat up late into the night sketching out designs for our kiln. We knew that it had to be highly efficient in its use of propane, and also relatively easy to fire since we wouldn’t have much time to train people in firing the kiln. It also needed to be inexpensive and easy to construct in a short period of time, using the limited range of materials that were available to us locally.

Ceramics in Haiti: Gathering Materials

Yesterday I shared some quick thoughts upon my return from Port-au-Prince, where I worked with Scott Dillman of the Grunewald Guild to establish a ceramic studio and building a kiln for the artisans of the Apparent Project. Led by Corrigan and Shelley Clay, the Apparent Project focuses on job creation for Haitian artisans, and has established a highly successful line of hand-made jewelry. Our work in Haiti will expand that project to include hand-made ceramic beads made from local Haitian clay.

Our first few days in Haiti were spent researching and gathering the necessary local materials, primarily clay and brick. One of the long-term goals of this project is to design an inexpensive kiln from locally-sourced materials, so that more kilns can be easily constructed and maintained as ceramic production grows.

One difficulty of sourcing materials was the lack of a telephone directory; we had to make our contacts by word of mouth. It was clear that a limited quantity of ceramic wares could be found in some of the local shops, but the shopkeepers were unwilling to give out contact information for the artists and artisans who were making the work. They feared that we would buy directly from the studio, and thereby rob the shop of its profits. Corrigan had repeatedly been told that the shops had no contact information for the ceramicists, that they had died in the earthquake, or that nobody knew where they were. Although it was obvious that someone must be producing ceramics in Port-au-Prince, for a long time we had no idea how to find them.

Return from Haiti — First Thoughts

The cool gray light of a rainy dawn is seeping, achingly slowly, across the Kentucky sky. It is a striking contrast to the hot and blindingly bright sunrise over Port-au-Prince, where day dawns early and swiftly — the whole city washed and haloed in brilliant light. In spite of the differences, there is a great and quiet beauty in the breaking of day, no matter where in the world I find myself.

I am moving steadily through the small and necessary rituals of returning from travel: calling my mother, buying groceries, cuddling the cat, and tracking down my wayward luggage. I am also moving through the less-tangible rituals of pondering memories, turning them over to learn their shape and form and substance, trying to understand what they will come to mean and where they will lead from here.