Ceramics is known since ancient times. There are good grounds to believe that this is the first man-made artificial material. Emergence of ceramics is considered to be associated with sedentarization. The most ancient burnt clay object is Venus of Dolní Věstonice, it is about 25-29 thousand years old. In spite of such an ancient technology, ceramic products are still in demand. As time went on, technologies changed, many processes were automated, now large companies produce tens of thousands of products every day, sell them all over the world, but each of us has ceramic plates, jars and flower vases at home. In spite of many thousands of years, ceramics remained in every home.
But this was not always the case, globalization and mass production became part of our life only since last century. Previously, people lived more autonomously. In every town or village, there was an artisan who handcrafted ceramics, and people would buy or exchange them. Now machines have replaced human work all over the world, but despite this, there are still enthusiasts who continue to manually make unique items.
In 2018, “Gagauz Halk Zanaatları” School of Crafts was opened in Comrat. Here, professional artisans create a wide variety of products from burned clay, as well as teach this craft to children. Their main goal is to return interest in pottery, as well as to preserve cultural traditions of the Gagauz people by their products. Elements of the Gagauz culture are often found in jugs and plates, decorative objects, these are ornaments and symbols that have been formed by the Gagauz over the years.
In many ways, this school exists thanks to the efforts of Peter Kapakly. Peter is a young and very ambitious modern artisan from Beshalma. In his youth, he went to Turkey in search of a better life. In 2003, he went there to work and got a job as a loader in a stucco workshop. He became very interested in plaster work, and two weeks later his boss invited him to try to do something on his own. He was given the most difficult mould, which no one wanted to take on. And he made it, and made it very professionally and to the highest standard. Since then, he ceased to be a loader. A year later, he was already the chief craftsman in this workshop. He invited his brother to Turkey and began to teach him everything that he had learned himself. But after a year and a half, he longed to go home.
He did not live long in Gagauzia and left for Moscow, where he was engaged in construction and repairs. He also opened his own stucco workshop there. His friends often came to him and asked to give them a master class, as they liked his works. They had an idea, which later became a decisive factor for opening of a craft school in Comrat, they decided to organize master classes for everyone. And it was a success – 30 people came to the very first master class. All of them were grown-up people – managers, bankers, office workers.
We organized a master class at which we made prints of plants on clay, and then filled them with plaster. People went home with their crafts being very pleased. I felt that this was my thing and started working on this project. I began to develop this topic, conducted many master classes on various various techniques with plaster and clay. We held a couple of master classes in the House of Crafts at the Exhibition of Economic Achievements. They organize master classes for tourists there. I liked this idea so much that I felt that it could become very popular here in Gagauzia, because nobody is doing anything in this area in our country. With this idea I came back to Comrat, met with Maria Semyenova from the Department of Culture and Tourism, and proposed to open a craft school. The Department of Culture fully supported my idea, trusted my skills, and the Bashkan of Gagauzia allocated the building, the residence of the Bashkan, for a craft school. On June 1, 2018, on the International Children’s Day the school was opened. Initially, our goal was to revive and popularize Gagauz crafts among children – making traditional pumpkin crafts -susak, pottery and artistic woodcrafts, then we added tapestries. We use Gagauz ornaments; we talk with children about the history with which a particular craft is connected.
50 students are studying in the school now. These are children and young people from the age of 10 to 20. For them, studying at this school is not only an opportunity to learn about the history and traditions of their people, but also a chance to try something new in life, a chance to find their future profession. Peter is convinced that for mastering a craft it is very important for a child to get some reward from what he is doing. If a child can sell his product, it can strongly motivate him to further improve his skills.
The pedagogical method that Peter has chosen is also unique in its own way. This is the principle of mentoring. The elder student teaches the younger one. In other words, an older child who has got already some skills teaches a beginner who makes his first steps, and so on in the ascending order, up to the most senior, that is, Peter himself. This method is good because, firstly, children learn to properly teach their own skills, and they also understand Peter better, how difficult it is to teach someone who does not know anything yet. This unites and creates a team spirit, where there is not a single authority of one teacher, here everyone is equal and everyone has their own position and is an equal member of the team.
„Traditional education is outdated and will disappear in history. There are such examples as Waldorf schools, for instance. They do not issue diplomas, they do not even give scores, they give recommendations. Such approach fits teaching crafts better, because it will be clear what the graduate is good at, he knows how to grind or cut well. When he applies for a job, and the employer looks at his recommendation, he understands who refers him“.
„We need to organize education based on the desire to learn, and to give the child the opportunity to develop in the area in which he wants. If a child does not wish this, if he is not interested in the topic, he can get more information, but it is processed. But if a child wants something himself, it’s like fuel for a rocket, he will study, it will be interesting for him. We don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach at our craft school. We have an individual approach to every single child. This brings very good results”.
Peter is convinced that every child has creative potential, and his task of a teacher is to reveal it. Together with his students, and with Ulyana Tradnafilova, they make various objects, promote Gagauz culture within the country and beyond, some works are sold abroad, some are bought by tourists. But in addition to school, Peter also conducts master classes in all rehabilitation centers for disabled children throughout Gagauzia.
„I do not have children myself, but I treat all the children who come to me as an older friend. For me, children are very close, I can speak their language with them. I consider my mission in transferring skills, knowledge, inspiring for creative work and passing the message that we are all artists, and very creative people, but it is like a seed, and craft is an ideal soil to cultivate our creative potential”.
The school is located in the center of Comrat, five minutes walk from the main square. This is a large building with a well-tended garden where pumpkins are grown of which susaks are made. There is also a garage there that was converted into a workshop – there is a special kiln in which pottery is fired. Initially, this area was in a state of neglect. Peter and his associates breathed new life into these walls. There are several large rooms in the house, but there is no empty space, somewhere there are already finished products, somewhere students are resting during their free time, hundreds of photographs are displayed on the walls, which tell about the history of the creation of their works during almost three years. There are also tapestry and pottery workshops there. Interesting things happen at this workshop, children and Peter himself mold various clay pieces with their own hands, and then leave them here to dry.
Pottery, as was mentioned earlier, is an ancient craft. In spite of the fact that modern technologies have appeared, the process itself remains conceptually the same.
So how it is done:
First, the clay is taken. The first step is wedging of clay. This is done to make clay workable, docile, with a homogeneous structure inside. The second step is at the potter’s wheel. The centering process begins. This piece of clay needs to be centered so that it does not hit hands. The piece of clays should be always watered to make it slide in hands. There should be some clay wash between the clay and the hand for it to glide. Without this layer it will simply bump into the hand and stick or it can fly away immediately. Then the bottom is pierced and formed, and the cylinder is raised. After the cylinder any piece can be made, whether it is a plate, a pot, or a jug. After the jug is formed, it is dried with a hairdryer and cut with a wire at the bottom. After that the drying process begins, which is very important. Drying should not take place quickly. It should run evenly. The product is dried in a cabinet. While drying the clayware shrinks and becomes smaller by 10-15%. The water evaporates and only clay remains. The drying process takes at least a couple of hours, depending on the product. In addition, each kind of clay has its own properties, some types of clay can be dried quickly, but there are some types of clay that do not like it. After drying, the first firing is done. Firing takes place in a muffle furnace at a temperature of 1030°. The temperature grows gradually over 12 hours. Then, the crafts cool down in a natural way for 12 hours. And this should also happen gradually. Any attempt to speed up the process can lead to the break of the object. After the first firing, we get a product that is called a “crock”. It’s just a clayware. If you pour water there, it will begin to leak, because it is hygroscopic, in other words, it absorbs water. And the first thing to do is to milk it. The crock is dipped into milk, then dried, and after that it is fired again at a temperature of 330°. This happens quickly – the temperature increases within two hours, and then the product cools down in about two hours. During this process the milk is sintered in the structure of the product, and ensures water resistance. At the same time, it also has decorative property. After milking, waxing begins. While the product is still warm, about 100°, it is waxed. It starts to shine and becomes completely waterproof. This is the most ancient way. People noticed that if milk is kept inside a jar, it becomes more waterproof. This is a very ancient technology.
Then the glaze appeared. This is also clay, but when it is fired, it becomes glasslike. It is completely waterproof. Glaze can be of different colors, and it can be used to paint products, to draw and make various ornaments.
„I have mastered many crafts, but clay is the material with which you can work in a variety of ways. Life is not enough to master everything. And there is still room for improvisation and creation of something completely new”.
Peter looks to the future with optimism and enthusiasm, he plans to implement projects that will lead to social changes. The craft house and school project will expand, but in a different form. Beshalma’s Mayor’s office gave him a 30-year lease for the building of a former kindergarten for his future social entrepreneurship project.
„I will train and employ socially vulnerable people there and involve them in social life. Socially vulnerable groups of the population are people with disabilities, or people whose wages are below the subsistence level, or unemployed people. Unfortunately, there are many such people in the village, as well as elderly people who have nothing to do”.
„I am not indifferent to the situation in which our people have found themselves now. I’m not saying that someone is to blame for this, it’s just a shame that so many opportunities were lost. Now we need to create something new, and I see lots of potential for this”.
„People are ready to work at home. We still have preserved the spirit of mutual assistance. We used to build houses together, relatives and neighbors were getting together to make bricks. Everything was done together, and we were united by the team spirit. I want this project to be based on this old tradition of ours. I have a vision and I am gathering like-minded people who will create and build something that will help us to look confidently to the future”.
„I consider myself a very rich person, but not in material terms. I am rich because I have skills and vision. Of course I want to share it. I am very inspired by a team of creative people – it’s like a potential creative charge, once it sparks it brings light to everyone!”.
