ANAGAMA
Exhibition by Violaine Toth
The anagama kiln (Japanese Kanji: 穴窯 / Hiragana: あながま) is an ancient type of pottery kiln brought to Japan from China via Korea in the 5th century. In Japanese, anagama means “single-chamber kiln”. In this type of kiln, ceramics are placed directly in contact with flames, which can produce unique effects such as ash glazing and flashing (the flames leave marks on the vessels due to iron salts melting on it).
In 2024, I was invited by Nina Salsotto Cassina (Unurgent Argilla, Milan, Italy) to participate in a communal anagama firing in the mountains of Piedmont, Italy. After months spent preparing numerous pieces of ready-to-fire ceramic ware in my studio in Berlin, I was finally ready to travel there and immerse myself in the magic of this ancient craft.
For two weeks, hand in hand with Nina who hosted me in her studio, taught me self-made glazing techniques, and showed me how to harvest wild clay from nature, I experimented with materials found in situ and developed this new collection. After a week of research, made more challenging by difficult weather conditions, we began preparing the kiln for the three-day firing, joined by two other ceramicists: Maia Beyrouti (Moio Studio, Berlin, Germany) and Biagio Intorrella (Mar Laboratory, Ragusa, Italy).
This project was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union and implemented by the Goethe-Institut. Photo & texts credits: Violaine Toth / Credits for Anagama firing, clay foraging knowledge and teaching, equipments, kiln building, materials and tests: Nina Salsotto Cassina.
