The ‘Traditional Pottery from Potravlje’ educational workshop was held successfully on Friday, October 27, 2017, at the premises of the Sikirica Gallery in Sinj.
The event was organized by the Sinj Tourist Board and supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia and Sinj. Not one, but two educational workshops, for both children and adults, were held under the topic “Traditional Pottery Making from Potravlje”.
Due to growing interest, for the third year in a row, two workshops were held, and for next year, the Tourist Board of Sinj intends to organize several more workshops for elementary school children from the Cetina region.
Just like in the last two years, a children’s workshop was held in cooperation with the kindergarten “Bili Cvitak” and Mrs. Ana Glavinović, who assisted Mr. Ivan Knezovic in creating this art from the earth. At the end of the workshop, the proud participants brought their handicrafts with them to decorate their kindergarten classrooms.
Mr. Ivan Knezović, who is the natural leader of these educational workshops, is also among one of the few left to create these traditional crafts. The traditional pottery making from Potravlje was given the status of the immaterial cultural property in 2013 and was nominated by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia for the protection of UNESCO.
It is of utmost importance to preserve this segment of the region’s traditional culture and to enable it to continue with longevity by passing the knowledge down to younger generations. With this aim, the Sinj Tourist Board, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, holds these workshops.
Everyone who expressed their wish and interest was able to participate in the production of pottery under Mr. Knezović’s expert guidance. Due to the substantial number of participants eager to learn, the workshops were held until 20:30. All participants received unique souvenirs that were personally made by Mr. Ivan Knezović, the leader, and the youngest participants received small pots as souvenirs.
For the music part of the evening, the Association for the Preservation of Heritage of the Cetina Krajina performed, who occasionally plays at traditional festivals. Performing male and female “rera”, this is also on the list of the intangible heritage of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia.
You can watch the story of the pottery making process with Ante Gugić below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v=gSVxHTm7feM
This workshop was co-funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia.
The Sinj Tourist Board sincerely thanks everyone who helped in the realization of this project.
All photos by TZ Sinj
