Students take part at the workshop on ceramic art in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 27: Regional centre of the Lalit Kala Akademi has organised a workshop for art students coming from across the state to popularise the ceramic art in Odisha.

About 15 students of sculpture department from various art colleges such as B.K. College of Art and Crafts, Dhauli College of Art and Crafts and Utkal University of Culture are taking part in the workshop.

Students from Bhadrak, Berhampur and Balasore art colleges are also part of it. Gautam Das, who has been teaching designing in Visva Bharati for 19 years, is teaching the students.

“The sculpture students have tried their hands in the art with red clay of Odisha. But at this workshop, we are using clay from Calcutta. So, I initially taught them how to prepare the clay with raw materials and then the temperature at which it is burnt before it can be used to create a piece of art. If the clay is not properly prepared, the final work will never be impressive,” said Das.

The students can be seen engaged giving their imagination shape in form of ceramic art at the workshop that begins at 10am and goes on till evening.

While most participants attempted making human and animal figures, few could be seen making modern home décor items.

Art students give final shape to ceramic models and (below) teacher Gautam Das. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Baishnab Sahoo, a 24-year-old student, who tried replicating his own face on the clay, almost managed to do that and Debananda Rana, a 23-year-old, made a beautiful showpiece.

“Most art colleges in Odisha do not teach the craft of ceramic. Students of sculpture need to know about how it is different from terracotta. They must be aware of what is happening at a national level. Moreover, we want our well-equipped art studio to be used by students to learn and create something new,” said Ramahari Jena, secretary of the regional centre.

Das supported him stating that states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bengal and New Delhi had rich culture of ceramic art. Das and Jena could be seen prodding the students to think beyond the usual and create something striking.

The workshop that began on Friday will conclude with a valedictory session on November 28. Das also deliberated on various aspects of designing at a presentation lecture on Saturday organised as part of Kaladhara series that is simultaneously going on at the centre. As part of the series, two films based on the lives to legendary artists M.F. Hussain and Sayed Raza were also screened on the following two days, respectively.