Unpacking a Potted History. Paul Dyson Mexborough Concertina Club 26th November 2014 Imagine this - a room full of poets, a pair of prolific ceramic artists in a scene reminiscent of the film Ghost and an 80s rock legend, all hosted in an intimate little back street club. This crucible of creativity is exactly what an eclectic audience in Mexborough were gifted with at the Concertina Club in November. Right Up Our Street, the Doncaster-based community arts group tasked with engaging local people in the arts, presented Unpacking A Potted History, an evening of pottery, poetry and participation here in Mexborough town. Ceramicists Adele Howitt and Sarah Villeneau provided a number of pottery workshops in the town throughout the year, creating pottery and shards, chatting with people and recording pottery history and stories from the area. These memories were shared with international poet Sally Jenkinson, who created poems inspired by these living words and stories collected from the people of Mexborough. The poems were included in a free booklet on the night, where we had the privilege of hearing Sally performing them. Sally currently lives in Bristol but grew up in Doncaster and still retains her local accent. Sally arranged a piece of crowd writing, each of us supplying a few words and thoughts on Mexborough, which were crafted into a poem she read out later that evening. The event was compered by Mexborough’s Pitmen Poets MC, Tony Goodwin, who kept the evening on track with his characteristic style of prose. Next up the Saxon rock legend Graham Oliver gave a comprehensive talk on the local history and heritage of the 18th century pottery industry in the town. Graham, an authority and enthusiastic collector, had brought with him many pieces from his private collection of ceramics and fine-ware from this period.
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His talk carried us back to the days before temperature controls, before ovens, into an era of trial and error, telling us how the ceramics were handmade and decorated in the days when pottery was made by the local craftsmen and artisans of the day. Adele and Sarah, our ceramicist hosts, gave the opportunity for us to participate in creating a piece of pottery of our own. A potter’s wheel was placed centre stage where volunteers could get hands-on with the clay. I couldn’t resist. The clay was damp and clammy, malleable, smooth but gritty and smelled of dank earth, the soft medium becoming an extension of my own hands. Some of my earlier attempts looked rather phallic, but with perseverance and a little help I managed to create a ceramic piece that vaguely resembled a vessel. I don’t think Grayson Perry has anything to worry about just yet. The evening closed with Tony Goodwin and the Pitmen Poets reading a selection of locally inspired works. A generous round of applause rightly followed this skilfully crafted evening. The audience left enlightened, feeling more connected with our local heritage and artistic past. A truly entertaining event, and not a single air guitar came out all night. End
The pottery created throughout Unpacking A Potted History will be on display at the Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery from March 2015.
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Photography: Graeme Oxby ©2014