Wioska garncarzy w Mali

Nicolas Remene / Le Pictorium - Kalabougou pottery village in Segou, Mali - 24/11/2018 - Mali / Segou / Segou - The village of Kalabougou, located about 15km from Segou on the left bank of the Niger River, is known mainly for the manufacture and firing of pottery. Unfortunately, the conflicts that reign in this part of Mali today are undermining an activity that is already struggling to compete with plastic and metal products. The potters gather the pottery they have made during the week in groups and put it under thick piles of branches and other vegetation. Then they set fire to them. The branches and the cover of herbaceous vegetation ignite with the release of thick white smoke and high heat. The temperature inside the pile can reach 600 to 700°C and the firing lasts between 45 minutes and 1 hour. The firing of the pottery is only done at the end of the week, on Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Once finished, each family collects their pottery with a long bamboo rod with a hook at the end to catch the pottery on the edges. As with the arrangement in the kiln, the pottery is removed in a specific order. Some pieces are soaked immediately in a vegetable solution to give them a slightly lighter colour with reddish spots. These recovery and soaking stages are quite delicate and require great mastery on the part of the potters. It is estimated that between 1,500 and 2,000 pots are fired each week in Kalabougou. The pottery is then loaded onto pinasses to be transported and sold mainly at the big fair in Segou on Monday morning.