Course Details

Who will be teaching you and looking after you ?

Chris Stevens will be supervising the entire course.

Raphael Manda , our Manager at Nkhotakota Pottery, will be in charge of the day to day running of the pottery courses. Raphael started his training at Dedza in 1996 and has been at Nkhotakota Pottery since it opened in 1998, he was appointed Branch Manager in 2004. He is a skilled thrower and fully conversant with all aspects of pottery production. Raphael will try to ensure that everything about your stay runs fairly smoothly; he is used to coping with special requests and sorting out problems.

Donald Mwagomba is our Lodge Manager and has many years experience in the catering and hotel industry. Donald will be making sure your room is well cleaned, the water is hot, your clothes are well ironed and your meals are ready (as often as possible) on time. Donald is also an excellent chef and will be happy to try any ideas not on the menu.

Harry Kalusa is in charge of organising the Training Workshop and is also a skilled thrower. Harry also started his potting career in 1996.

Judith and Evance have been potting for 5 and 4 years respectively and both work full time at the Training Workshop. They will be there to assist guests in preparing clay, checking pots, and in cleaning up.

Gloria and Fatuma, or their daughters if they are away, are potters from local families who have made traditional pots for generations. Neither have had the chance for any formal education but their quiet confidence as they make their pots is a humbling experience.

Fraid Kafera has been with Dedza Pottery since 1987and is now the Production Manager. Apart from a vast knowledge about finding and preparing raw materials, he is an expert in firing wood kilns. Fraid usually conducts the tours of Dedza Pottery for visitors and sometimes assists with parts of the courses at Nkhotakota particularly the wood firings.

Benjamin Katungwe runs the research and development department and has been with Dedza Pottery since 1988. Benjamin has helped develop many of the unusual production processes we use and has a wide range of pottery skills including mould making and slip casting. Benjamin often assists with the tours at Dedza and comes to Nkhotakota when his special skills are required on a course.

Other members of staff will be called upon to assist guests with decorating, glazing, loading and firing electric kilns.

Where will the course be run ?

The courses take place in the purpose built Training Workshop, which is right on the lake and set aside from the main production workshop so that guests will not be interrupted by the general hustle and bustle of an increasingly busy pottery and its visitors. The Training Workshop is equipped with both electric (Venco) wheels, (one for each guest if required) and momentum kick wheels, a Top Loading electric kiln, damp cupboard, full complement of tools, bats etc. Outside is the Training Workshop Kiln Shed where there is the wood fired kiln for reduction firings, the charcoal fired Raku kiln, and the simple sawdust kiln.

Detailed Course Content

With small numbers of guests on each course (maximum of 7) and a large resource of many highly skilled staff we are able to adapt courses to the very specific potting needs of participants. Complete beginners can learn to make their first pots while experienced potters can enjoy making exactly what they want with the luxury of having assistants to wedge the clay, clean up the wheel, put the pots in the damp cupboard etc.

In the first days of the course two experienced potters from local villages will come to demonstrate how traditional Malawian pots are made and decorated. The traditional potters (always ladies in most of Africa ) will be available to assist guests who wish to pursue these traditional techniques and later in the course the pots will be fired in a traditional pit firing. There will also be an opportunity for guests to visit the home of one of the potters and see where she makes and fires her pots.

There will be short demonstrations of the following making and decorating techniques and guests are free to choose which techniques they would like to follow and where they would like further assistance from the course tutors.

Hand Building - Traditional Malawian hand building; coil pots; slab pots; press moulded dishes; figurines.

Throwing and Turning - Our tutors regularly teach beginners who have never sat at a potter's wheel before but can also assist more experienced throwers with teapots or 50cm flower pots.

Decorating and Finishing - Slip trailing; impressing; burnishing and scratching; paper and wax resist; painting on unfired pots; painting on the unfired glaze.

Glazing - Brief theory of glazes; composition of glazes for Raku and Stoneware including Copper Reds, mixing glazes and applying by dipping, pouring and brushing.

Kiln Firing - Guests will have the opportunity to make pots for, and assist with, the following firings:- traditional pit firing; biscuit firing in electric and/or rice husk fired kiln, slow sawdust firing (for beautiful smoked patterns), Raku firing in charcoal fired Raku kiln, oxidised firing to cone 10 in electric kiln, reduction firing to cone 9/10 in the wood fired kiln where we usually manage to obtain the elusive Copper Reds.

Tool Making - There will be a short demonstration on making some simple but effective potting tools.

Personalised Timetable - If there are certain potting skills you would especially like to learn or improve please indicate when you are booking. We can then plan the full details of your individual timetable at the start of the course.

What is Provided and What to Bring

We aim to provide everything you will need on the course and the pottery has a wide range of potting books and almost all the Ceramic Reviews from the last 20 years. However if you have any special tools or books please bring them.

If you have a few photos or slides of your own pots or studio, or perhaps pictures of traditional potters in another country please bring them to show the course tutors and other guests.