Preface

The idea of writing a ceramic book specifically to suit conditions in developing countries originated from my personal experience and associated problems whilst I was struggling to set up modern pottery production in a Tanzanian village ten years ago. When I was a potter in Denmark, ceramic raw materiels and kiln refractories had only been a question of which supplier to contact whereas in Tanzania we had to find our own clay and glaze minerals, produce firebricks and kiln slabs, and construct the equipment locally. From that experience I realized the shortcomings of my former training and how difficult it was to extract appropriate technology from currently available ceramic literature. This literature mainly addresses itself to a market comprising amateurs, art potters and industrial engineers in developed countries. Generally, the hobby books are too basic and the engineering books are too advanced to be useful to most potters. The art potters' books provide a great deal of useful information. However, they do not cover all the fundamental problems facing the potter in a developing country, e.g. how to produce refractories.

The term self-reliant potter closely reflects the working conditions in which potters in many developing countries have to exist. Imported materials and equipment are virtually impossible to obtain and even the supply of resources within the country may be impractical due to poor logistics or difficulties with local government bureaucracies. Selfreliance is therefore not seen as an end in itself but as a means to ensure a profitable pottery production.

The aim of this book is not to enable somebody without practical pottery experience to start up modern pottery production on his own. The book is mainly written for the benefit of potters already involved with modern pottery, and for teachers and students involved with the growing number of pottery training centres and institutes in developing countries.

GATE is planning to publish more technical books on ceramic technology and these would cover the subjects of glazing, clay preparation and shaping methods. GATE invites users of this book to forward their comments and any suggestions regarding the planned future series of ceramic books.

Acknowledgements

A number of friends, potters and colleagues in Denmark, Tanzania, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Burma have over the years participated in the process of establishing the raw materials for this book. I wish to thank them all for sharing with me the frustrations, disappointments and occasional triumphs of that process.

Knud Erik Asak initiated me to the art of kiln building and he has contributed a number of photographs and the design of the Champaknagar kiln.

Troels Kvorning has taught me the basics of pottery and has kindly let me use some of his photographs from Tanzania.

The technical details of the kerosene pressure burner are provided by James Danisch who has also contributed to the book with helpful suggestions and photographs.

Kaung Kaung Oo has helped with working drawings for some of the kilns.

Peter Nauman has produced the majority of the drawings and has had the tedious task of correcting my English and proof-reading the manuscript.

The manuscript has been typed and retyped several times by Nan Win Moe.

Finally I owe thanks to my wife Tin Tin Moe for her encouragement and patience with the writing of the book.