30 November 2015
H.E Shaikha Mai receives pottery craftsmen delegation, H.E: “The pottery industry is part of Bahraini heritage.”
There has always been a rich tradition of arts and crafts in Bahrain, going back many thousands of years to the Dilmun era. Bahrain's position at the crossroads of an important trade route in the Gulf linking Arabia with Asia and beyond made it a meeting place throughout history for many different cultural influences.
Evidence of pottery making in Bahrain goes back many thousands of years. Pieces of pottery dating back to 2000 BC, and perhaps earlier, have been found at various archaeological sites here.
There has been a cross fertilization and sharing of ideas, which has enriched local culture and art.
The pottery in A'ali is always a favorite destination for visitors, locals and school children who love to see the making of the pots on foot operated wheels, as much as they come to browse around the pottery shops and to buy the colorful well-crafted items. The potters who start in the early morning work in a way that looks almost effortless, but this belies the skill, steady hand and patience that are required. Observe how the potter opens up a lump of clay with his thumbs and begins to fashion it into a vase or bowl. The pots are laid out to dry in the sun and then placed in traditional kilns, many of them built into ancient burial mounds from the Dilmun period.
Products include the ever-popular garden and plant pots, vases, children's money pots, hubble-bubble pipe bases, candlesticks, light fittings and much more. Recent innovations to the traditional ware have included brightly painted money pots, items coated in tiny seashells and vases with Arabic calligraphy and Koranic inscriptions.
