Where does Clay come from?¶
Instagram account created to document and share the results of asking Barcelona ceramists what type of clay they use and where it comes from. Interest in knowing if the clay used is local or imported.
With this intervention, I wanted to know what type of clay the ceramists in Barcelona use. By emailing, visiting their workshops, and going to design markets, I asked them which type of clay they use, where they get it, and if they knew the origin of the components or where it is produced.
I am interested in local materials recirculation, and because Catalonia was a major clay extractor years ago, I wanted to verify if it still is. Around La Bisbal there were a lot of “Terreres”, the places where there is abundant clay and from, they extract it to send it to the factories, such as in Cruïlles, Corçà, and Sant Sadurní de l’Heura, as well as in other regions, to give some examples, Breda and Quart. Each of these areas had clay with different qualities, and because of that, they produced different types of products. In La Bisbal, the main one was plates, in Breda, objects to cook with fire, and in Quart, their black pieces.
Also, I wanted to know if the clay was imported. Ukraine is one of the principal exporters in the world, and the current war may have affected the supply chain throughout Europe.
The results were clear, a major part of ceramists use the same clay, from the same supplier. PRAI from Sio-2 is the most used, and they have the factory in Esparraguera, a city 40km away from Barcelona. Another popular one is Argiles Colades from La Bisbal.
With this intervention, I made a lot of contacts and started to be situated in the ceramics community of Barcelona. With “Impotsible Ceramics” we talked about making a future collaboration.
Next steps for this intervention would be to know where the waste of the ceramic process goes, because once the clay is fired, it is transformed into ceramic and can no longer be reversed. How can we recycle ceramics? Can the glazes be polluting?