In January this year Louisburgh potter and artist Anthony O’Brien travelled to Tatiko, a small village in northern Nigeria to film the traditional potters at work. The Tatiko potters are all women, who work without potters' wheels, kilns or any specialised equipment. The pottery they make is for everyday use, for cooling water, storing oil and grain, and for cooking over the open fire. But what makes their pottery so special is that it is stunningly beautiful, finely decorated in a rich red clay. There are some 50 women potters in Tatiko, making hundreds of pots every week, which are all sold in the local market. People come from all over northern Nigeria to buy their work.
When Anthony O’Brien returned from Nigeria, having survived typhoid and meningitis, he worked with Irish filmmaker Jarlath Rice, who took the footage he had filmed, and made it into a short documentary called Tatiko, The journey of an African pot which follows his journey to Tatiko, and captures the magic of the place, the people, and their beautiful art. This documentary along with another short film of his The Alchemy of Clay will be show in the Wyatt Hotel, Westport, on Saturday next October 29 at 8pm. Admission is €8 on the door.
