Tabita Hatuti and Pottery in Wolayta Tabita lives in Shento, a Wolayta village situated in the highlands of Ethiopia south central Ethiopia, about 350 kilometers south of Addis Ababa.
Tabita and other potters occupy a special occupational and social niche in Wolayta society-they are members of a group commonly referred to as "chinasha," meaning "potter" or more generally, "artisan." It is a derogatory term used by the farmers, goqa, who are the dominant group in Wolayta. Potters refer to themselves as hillancha, "someone who makes things, a creative person." In sociological terms, the potters of Wolayta and their families form a caste group.[1] Pottery production is primarily, but not exclusively, the domain of women in Wolayta society. Women mine and prepare the clay and they build the pots. They also supervise the firing of pots but their husbands or sons often assist. In addition, men also acquire wood for the fire, specifically wood that must be cut from trees-women collect dead wood that has fallen from trees. Men also sometimes carry the finished pottery to market for sale. Tabita learned to make pots as a young girl. Doing so is part of growing up in potter communities in Wolayta. There are a variety of pot-types made by Tabita and other Wolayta potters, each produced for different uses-cooking food, storing water, serving food, baking injera (bread), etc. Some women have a large repertoire of pots that they can produce, others are limited. Tabita's specialty is the large beer brewing pot called gan that stands about a meter in height and is a half meter in diameter.
Tabita begins building her pots by setting a large hunk of cured clay on the ground and, using her right fist, pushing the clay out from the center to form a circle-this serves as a base from which she will 7quot;pull" the walls of the pot. Walking around and around the pot, she uses the three middle fingers of her right hand as a "paddle" to compress and smooth the clay. She eventually runs out of clay and turns to rolling coils of clay between her hands that she then adds to the top edge of the pot, once again using her right hand as a "paddle." Working with remarkable speed and deftness, she soon builds the walls of the pot. Tabita then takes a piece of sheep skin, periodically dipped in a pot of water, and, once again walking around the pot, she smoothes the surface and pulls up the lip of the pot. Tabita continues to work until she has managed to attain a near-perfect symmetry. Once the modeling is finished, she puts the pot in the shade or takes it indoors so that it dries at a uniform rate. When it is dry, Tabita takes a smooth stone and burnishes the upper third of the vessel. Tabita and other potters will spend several hours a day producing pots as part of their daily domestic duties. |
The goqa enjoy a higher status by virtue of their ownership of land. Potters, as well as the tanners and blacksmiths who form other caste groups, (before the 1974 Revolution) were not allowed to own land and had to survive on income from their production of pottery and from food produced on small plots of land they were sometimes allowed to till. Goqa and chinasha do not intermarry, nor do they mix socially. They usually live in separate communities. Goqa despise chinasha and maintain various disdainful beliefs about them. Yet the farmers respect and depend upon the things that potters and other despised artisan groups make-they can't live without them. This is a similar situation to that encountered in the Gurage area where Menjiya (who is also featured in the exhibition) is a member of a caste group called Fuga who produce wood objects and pottery for farmers. In fact, the existence of caste groups is a characteristic of many Ethiopian societies.
From the age of two or three, all children (both girls and boys), since they spend most their time being cared for by their mothers and older sisters, learn to work clay. The process is quite natural, occurring as part of everyday life. Since men do not build pots, boys generally stop working with clay when they begin to engage in male-specific activities. Most girls, by the time they reach puberty (12 or 13 years old) have already learned all that they need to know to become accomplished potters. Skill and dexterity come with experience.
Pottery production begins with collecting or "digging" clay. Tabita lives about a kilometer from the source of clay she uses. Twice a week she walks to the clay deposits and collects about 10 kilograms of clay. It is moist as it comes from the ground and must be dried in the sun before it can be processed into the clay she uses to form her pots. After the clay has dried, it is beaten with a stick to reduce it to a powder. Water is added to the powder and the mixture is kneaded until it acquires a specific consistency. It is then covered and set aside to cure.
Within a week there are often more than enough pots ready to fire. It is general practice to fire pots in the morning on days when the local weekly market is held. The firing of pots is a challenging procedure. The right amount of fuel (grass and wood) must be used, pots must be properly stacked, and once ignited, the fire must be carefully tended so that the proper air drafts are maintained. It can take up to an hour to prepare for the open-air firing. The actual firing lasts about 45 minutes. It is a labor- and skill-intensive process that Tabita oversees, but she is often assisted by her husband, Busho, or one of her sons.