Twenty-nine-year-old Saima Shafi was on a family trip to Chandigarh in 2009, when they visited a village known for its pottery.
A painting enthusiast, Saima was attracted by beautiful earthenware. Not knowing that pottery was beyond making piggybanks, Saima bought a decorative pot for her home.Back home, the pottery had hit a dead end with young generation giving up the craft because of low returns and stigma.
Pained by the dying art, she decided to break the taboo and embarked on a mission to revive the pottery in Kashmir.
Known as `kraal koor’ (potter girl) Saima, a civil engineer in Public Works Department, introduced a concept of modern art pottery in Kashmir.
However, there were no takers for modern pottery. She contacted local potters, but they were no enthused by the new concept. Even Jammu and Kashmir had no institute that focused on pottery.Saima last year established her pottery studio in Srinagar. This is the first such modern pottery institute in the valley.
“I bought some machinery and stoneware clay from New Delhi. Now I am getting in touch with potters to train them in modern art pottery so that they can once again earn a livelihood,” she said.
