JAPANESE KILN WILL FIRE AT EASTER

Dr Robin Wilson, of Oxford’s School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography, welcomes alumni and the public to drop in at Oxford’s own Japanese-style kiln, which will be firing at the Wytham Woods Kilns Site (OX2 8QQ) throughout the Easter Weekend.

Volunteers at last year's kiln firing in Wytham Woods, a site owned by the University

• The site is accessible on April 19^th, 20^th and 21^st between 11am and 6pm.
• Free Parking and admission.
• Harriet Coleridge and her team will be demonstrating Raku firings, alongside other activities including workshops; a demo-tent with wheel-throwing, and traditional printmaking. 

Also new for 2019 is a chashitsu currently being constructed by Robin, a moveable tea ceremony hut. He notes, ‘I’ve built it to bridge the gap between making pots in kilns and seeing them behind glass in museums. The tea ceremony is a great way to handle and use ceramics, and make them understandable and meaningful.’

The tatami mats for this project have been donated by alumni Christopher and Phillida Purvis (formerly of the UK Embassy in Tokyo).

Traditional anagama firings produce exotic colours in finished items, on account of the path of the heat within the kiln.

Robin superintending the kiln at night