I attended a very interesting workshop conducted by My Community Festival 2022 (MCF2022) on 20 Aug 2022 https://mycommunityfestival.sg/about/
https://mycommunityfestival.sg/mycomm_event/teaware-designer-alvin-ng-from-studio09/ with Mr. Alvin Ng https://www.instagram.com/alving73/ and his team of potters.
Located at Jalan Bahar Clay Studios 97L Lorong Tawas, Singapore, 639824, Alvin kickstarted the program by giving us a tour of one of the 2 remaining dragon kilns in Singapore called Guan Huat Dragon Kiln.
The kiln measures a massive 43 metres long, 2.2 metres high and 2.5 metres wide which makes it the longest dragon kiln in Singapore. Built in 1958, Alvin mentioned that this kiln is one of the most unique original dragon kilns originating from the Fengxi region that worships to a 9 year old deity.
Covered with bricks from Alexandra Brickworks, which happened to be the first brickyard in Singapore established in 1899 as well as other local bricks factories, it is truly a living history of Singapore.
Although this wood fired Dragon kiln stopped breathing fire since the 1990s, its structure remained strong with visible glaze from wood ash (where soot will off drop off with every firing together with minerals sticking on the ceramics, creating one-of-a-kind pieces for the artistes). There are 3 doors for loading about 5000 pieces for each firing session with intermittent holes for wood to be thrown in to ensure that the temperature remains stable at 1280 degrees Celsius. It takes some 7 days for every firing which is a constant laborious affair for everyone involved. Read more about the wood firing process in this write-up from https://www.roots.gov.sg/stories-landing/stories/the-dragon-kiln-breathes-thow-kwang-dragon-kiln/story.
Alvin then proceeded to demonstrate his one-of-a-kind technique to incorporate the powder of old clay into new clay to make new tea ware after giving an overview of the 4 main types of clays that can be found in Singapore (white clay, orange clay, black clay and red clay (mainly in Redhill)).
All the participants then had a go at making their own teaware using the clay supplied by Alvin. I had a go at making my 2 little tea cups with the help of Mr. Andy Yeo https://www.instagram.com/gong_yi_xuan_a2rt_studio of Cultural Art Studio who was very patient to adjust my pieces (which were almost destroyed by my fumbling and heavy handed ways). Now I just have to wait for their call to pick up my pieces after firing.
The kiln measures a massive 43 metres long, 2.2 metres high and 2.5 metres wide which makes it the longest dragon kiln in Singapore. Built in 1958, Alvin mentioned that this kiln is one of the most unique original dragon kilns originating from the Fengxi region that worships to a 9 year old deity.
Covered with bricks from Alexandra Brickworks, which happened to be the first brickyard in Singapore established in 1899 as well as other local bricks factories, it is truly a living history of Singapore.
Although this wood fired Dragon kiln stopped breathing fire since the 1990s, its structure remained strong with visible glaze from wood ash (where soot will off drop off with every firing together with minerals sticking on the ceramics, creating one-of-a-kind pieces for the artistes). There are 3 doors for loading about 5000 pieces for each firing session with intermittent holes for wood to be thrown in to ensure that the temperature remains stable at 1280 degrees Celsius. It takes some 7 days for every firing which is a constant laborious affair for everyone involved. Read more about the wood firing process in this write-up from https://www.roots.gov.sg/stories-landing/stories/the-dragon-kiln-breathes-thow-kwang-dragon-kiln/story.
Alvin then proceeded to demonstrate his one-of-a-kind technique to incorporate the powder of old clay into new clay to make new tea ware after giving an overview of the 4 main types of clays that can be found in Singapore (white clay, orange clay, black clay and red clay (mainly in Redhill)).
All the participants then had a go at making their own teaware using the clay supplied by Alvin. I had a go at making my 2 little tea cups with the help of Mr. Andy Yeo https://www.instagram.com/gong_yi_xuan_a2rt_studio of Cultural Art Studio who was very patient to adjust my pieces (which were almost destroyed by my fumbling and heavy handed ways). Now I just have to wait for their call to pick up my pieces after firing.
Besides this lovely experience, I also brought 2 additional unique experiences:
- 1st one was a very nice set of coffee filter with matching cup made by the lovely Ms. Lee Shen Lung (Ceramic Artist) https://www.instagram.com/leeshenlung/. She mentioned that each piece will take around 3-4 weeks from start to finish due to the length of time required to perform repeated sessions of drying, firing, and glazing of the pieces.
- 2nd was on my way out of this area when I chanced up a pair of wild boars that came up to my car. I have never been so close to these animals before and thank goodness I was inside (not outside) the car when I saw them so close!
