Learning about intangible heritage through ceramics

Ceramics is an art in which we create objects with fired clay as raw material. When we carry out this type of activity, we often do not realise the value and benefits it brings us. While we do it we are enhancing creativity, our concentration is higher, we learn to be more patient since the result is not immediate, there is a process of preparation, action, firing, painting... with all this, we are increasing our self-esteem when we contemplate what we alone are able to create.

Apart from the physical benefits such as the development of fine motor skills, learning new textures, dealing with colours... we also obtain numerous benefits for our mental health, which is currently so damaged due to the frenetic pace of life we lead.

Aspects as important as learning to relax (concentrating helps us to escape from problems and obligations), we foster self-esteem as we have mentioned above, we bring friendships into our lives, we connect with reality using new technologies, we enrich our vocabulary and, above all, we communicate as the social beings that we are. This, which seems a trifle, for young and old people, is extremely important for them to get out of their comfort zone (often totally isolated in their own world). All these activities related to art and creation are basic to our development as people, both physically, mentally and socially.

Art is all the expressions or manifestations of creative activities carried out by human beings, in which they express their feelings, emotions, how they perceive, their experiences... using sound, plastic or linguistic resources. By narrowing down the definition, we can also say that all people are art, how they dress, how they cook, how they write, how they communicate... we all have some skills, attitudes and aptitudes that are authentic, constitute our idiosyncrasy and can be considered as art, since they are unique to each one of us.

Benefiting from art through traditional ceramics

Of course, in the pottery workshop we did in Ibi (Spain), the activity was always focused on preserving traditions and intangible cultural heritage. As someone said, ‘Who loses their roots loses their identity’.

The practice of ceramics activities covers the public of all ages, always considering flexibility and knowing how to adapt the activity, from less to more difficult, depending on the participating group. In our case, the target group was adults.

There were several objectives: to enhance creativity as an artistic language, to learn a new skill, to make friends, to get to know traditions and cultures and promote them so that they are not lost, to relax, as a therapy for stress... sometimes, you can even turn it into a paid job.

Specifically, in this pottery workshop we had the opportunity to learn about materials, spaces, tools, specific vocabulary... here you have a link with popular phrases about pottery and pottery in Valencian (language used in the Valencian Community) in Spain. https://tematic.dites.cat/2010/08/ceramica-i-terrissers.html

All of this enriched us culturally. On the other hand, we participated in the process of creating the pieces from the moment we obtained the raw material until we got the finished piece.

In this activity of decorating the clay tiles, the first action was to hand out the tiles, then they were given tracing paper with a drawing, which they went over with the help of a pencil, placing the paper on top of the tile. Afterwards, they chose the colours they wanted to use and chose the right brushes for the activity. Each one decorated their tiles according to their own style and preferences, creating a final product that was very beautiful and eye-catching.

During this process of creation, which is always flexible but not without preparation, we were also able to bring out our creative side to carry out the activity from different angles, inventing ideas such as, for example, if we do it in the afternoon, we can prepare an afternoon snack with an aperitif and relaxing music (which was the case in this event). On the other hand, we can prepare different themes: Christmas, Easter, celebration of an anniversary, celebration of Secret Santa, Halloween, oral English class, we can even prepare activities that promote respect for the environment, such as the creation of flowerpots, how to paint them and even end up planting seeds and monitoring their development.

Finally, when the result was perfectly dry, it was recommended to wrap it as a gift with some original ideas. We enjoyed a perfect occasion to learn, to have fun and to be able to give our little piece of art as a gift.