Century old Pottery Town under threat by Metro
On March 5, the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) laid the foundation to build a metro station in Pottery Town.The site that they are using to build the metro is the home of 42 potter families where most of them are fourth generation artists and are contemplating about the future of their homes.
Pottery Town, located near Benson Town on Pottery Road, is home to potters’ community that came to settlement during Mysore king Chamarajendra Wadiyar’s reign in the early 1900s. From 1970, an association of potters called Sangha took a space of 100 feet by 200 feet on lease from the Bangalore City Corporation for a period of 30 years. The lease was not renewed on 2005, and the community have made attempts to renew it. Although the BBMP officials have visited the site, they have not renewed the lease.
The potters have been working with terracotta,mud and clay to make sculptures,decorative pots,lamps and dolls since their settlement.
Currently, there are 42 families working in Pottery Town.Most of them live in the spaces of their work,only few potters live in separate houses apart from their space of work.Though the place occupied by these artists seem small at first sight, their houses and work space with a commonly used furnace are interlocked in a web like manner that leads to a larger space of the community.
Arun Kumar, an artist residing in Pottery Town, says that there is no alternate plan of their living condition if Metro comes to their space.
“We can’t fight with the government as they leased the place to us. We’ll have to leave when they’ll ask us to,” said Arun Kumar, an artist residing in Pottery Town.
As a first generation artist, he teaches pottery in Nandhini Layout and also works on commission. Students from Christ(Deemed to be University) and National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) approach him for design oriented products like phone stands. He makes flower pots, cups and decorative items on commission. He was in fact, making a swan and a horse as samples for a school interview.
“I’ll be teaching pottery to middle school children if I pass the interview,” he said.
Kumar’s interest in pottery began when he visited Pottery Town during his college days.
“I fell in love with pottery when I started learning it from other potters and dropped out of college soon after. I decided to make this my profession,” he said, smiling.
Rajshekar,a fourth generation potter, reflects on his business which was low for 4 years and assures it didn’t affect him as he loves working.One can see several decorative flower pots and a sculpture of Buddha inside his shop, but they are not currently in demand as madka cups.
“The demand with pots are currently high as hotels sell madka chai to attract customers.The plastic ban has benefited our business,” he said.
Rajshekar’s wife, Rajlekshmy, is currently learning pottery on the wheel from her husband. She teaches clay modelling to schools in R.T Nagar and Fraser Town, especially during Ganesha habba. She said that Sangha is not as united as it should be.
Rajshekar said that the Sangha that they are a part of has internal conflicts which are yet to be resolved. This, he said, adds to the tension with the government as they do not support them.
“The lease documents have not expired, and we have to renew it. So one of the members have asked the corporation to extend leases to those who work,” he complained.
Changappa Goudar, the officer for land acquisition informed on March 12th that people who have bought the site will be rehabilitated once the construction begins.
“Those who are living under a lease will have to move. We cannot provide rehabilitation for them,” he said.
Rajshekar said that if Metro comes to Pottery Town, he will have to move with his family to Narayanpura where he bought a house site. Whereas Shanta, another fourth generation potter said that it would stop her livelihood. She sells decorative lamps, madka pots,cups and flower pots near the commonly used furnace.
“I live where I work, where else will I go?” she grumbled.
Kumar and Rajshekar said that the space to keep their works is congested.
“We do not get proper raw materials or enough space;it’s hard to survive,” Rajshekar said.
Ramya,a ceramic student said she didn’t know about Pottery Town till she came to Chitra Kala Parishad during her undergraduate days.
“I went to watch the process of pottery and to buy clay. I got interested with terracotta because of the simplicity and medium, and the possibility to make anything with it with just our hands,” she said.
Although her visits weren’t frequent, she said that these generation of potters working together as a community brought serenity to the place.
“Everyone is doing the same thing, and no one is threatened by each other,” she said.
Rajshekar said the future with pottery is tremendous but the space is limiting the community. He adds that his daughters Ramya and Yuvashree are following his tradition as artists with other mediums. Ramya is currently studying sculpture in Chitra Kala Parishad whereas Yuvashree makes terracotta jewellery on commission through her Instagram page Creative Clay.
Yuvashree points out that making one jewellery takes more than a day as it is a meticulous and intricate process.
“As there has been a lot of customers for terracotta jewellery on Flipkart and Amazon, it’s time consuming to make them, and it’s a good feeling when the work is done,” she said,smiling.
Rajshekar said artists should be open to new things so that they can be sustainable with pottery as a medium.For Kumar, there should be healthy competition in order to keep work secure within the community.
“It won’t be good for a potter if he or she is insecure of another potter’s works selling well,” said Kumar.
Chandrashekar, a fourth generation potter was born in Pottery Town, and sells madka pots near Rajshekar’s shop. He showed the school he studied in and quickly pointed out a “T1” marked on a demolished building compound. He said it was marked by the Metro officials when they came to inform them about the construction.
“They’ve marked the Pottery Town school compound and have taken the area that we use for firing and baking. Government won’t help us anyway, so Sangha will fight with the MLA for now,” he groaned.
Kumar said the community should be united irrespective of internal clashes in Sangha.
“There has been a lot of ignorance with the seats allotted to SC members from the community in Sangha. As an SC, I got help from another SC member to make a living here. But I hope we unite when asking the government to stop the construction,” he pointed out.
Rajlekshmy, along with Shanta expressed that anything will work if there’s unity. Shanta said that Sangha will negotiate with the Metro officials as they had asked her to leave her house in 15 days. Kumar, on the other hand, isn’t sure if Metro would come to Pottery Town as informed to them.
The Metro construction is said to be completed in the next six months, and almost 30 potters and residents are planning to discuss their rehabilitation concerns with the upcoming MLA.
“We are now discussing with the Sangha about our future, lets see what happens when they start the construction,” Shanta said.
As on 15th April, the materials for construction have been laid on the ground and it is used as a dumping yard. The Metro officials have informed the community that they will get their space back in five years. As the Sangha have not been able to come to a decision with the Metro officials, the future of the community is still under threat.
