{"id":645,"date":"2020-01-30T12:18:38","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T12:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vserver3.auroville.com\/?p=645"},"modified":"2023-02-02T09:52:09","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T05:22:09","slug":"work-in-auroville-adil-writer-from-mandala-pottery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventure.auroville.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/30\/work-in-auroville-adil-writer-from-mandala-pottery\/","title":{"rendered":"An Artist of Auroville: Adil Writer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Provocative Ceramic Art<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Adil Writer<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Early Sunday morning was the best time to catch Adil Writer at work for an interview. The Mandala Pottery complex was quiet and serene amidst the singing birds in the forest surrounding it. As I arrived, he was glazing an exhibition piece with Lolly, the Dana community dog at his side. \u201cWhat are you working on?\u201d I asked as I intruded into his process. \u201cThis is a part of my\u00a0Sweet Dreams Series<\/a>, not the functional ceramic ware I usually sell on auroville.com\u201d he replied. As I tried to dig deeper into the intention, concept or inspiration of this particular series, it became clear that the artist at work was not creating in order to express his thoughts or make a statement. Adil spoke softly over his paintbrush strokes, \u201cI like to know what people see in it for themselves. Surely it will mean something different to each viewer, depending on their background, history and their own human experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We went upstairs into the studio where most of his exhibition pieces are stored or await to be glazed and fired. It is a treasure trove of his unique work. \u201cHow did you start on this particular \u2018Sweet Dreams Series\u2019, Adil?\u201d He goes on to explain that he had been gifted a used plaster mold of a doll face from Australia over a decade ago. He picked it up again recently and started working with it. Some people on social media have called it \u2018provocative\u2019, while others have threatened to \u2018un-follow\u2019 him on Instagram because of how it resonates with them. \u201cIs the reaction to this series just adding fuel to the fire? Is it reflecting the madness in the world of art? I don\u2019t know\u2026 but\u00a0where\u2019s the fire?<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0I only see sweet innocent faces here!\u201d he says casually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Architect to Artist<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Adil Writer was formerly trained as an architect at Sir J.J. College of Architecture, Bombay, India and received his Masters in Architecture at the University of Houston, Texas, USA. He worked as an architect at Gensler & Associates in San Francisco, and later was an associate architect at Talati & Panthaky Pvt. Ltd. in Bombay. He then took a break from architecture to dabble in a course in ceramics at the iconic Golden Bridge Pottery in Pondicherry in 1998, and more or less, did not go back home. Upon his arrival in Auroville in 2000, he felt blessed to put his talent to use by becoming a partner and developing the range of Mandala Pottery with fellow potters Anamika and Chinmayi. What was once a small scale pottery has now become a professional studio with three kilns ready to fire a busy production of tableware, assorted ceramic items, architectural ceramic murals and installations. Besides the clean glazed look of gas firings, the studio is also known for its unusual soda-fired works which are fired with locally grown wood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a tone of reverence and a gesture of gratitude, Adil speaks of his Pondicherry-based teachers: \u201cNone of this would have been possible had it not been for Ray Meeker and Deborah Smith.\u201d It was Ray and Deborah who, in 1971, pioneered glazed stoneware ceramics in southern India when they started Golden Bridge Pottery in Pondicherry, a hinterland known only for low-fired terracotta. The professionalism brought to their studio inspired visiting artists from India and abroad encouraging Auroville potters to develop their craft. \u201cI do not have the patience to be a teacher like them but the time has come for someone to start a ceramic school here in Auroville. In 2001 I wrote a project to kick-start this school but it fell through, because we could not find a full-time ceramics teacher! By then, I was a partner at Mandala.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n