A CLAY CUP TO CARRY FORWARD

Bristol, July 1st 2025

As the furthest West out of all Art Refuge’s locations - and perhaps in some way closer to a place to settle - the possibility to explore the dreams and finer details of making a new home appear to open up. Last week we held the first of three collaborative sessions with ceramicist Shanika Dedunu Yeomans, where our intention of this small project is to represent those collective and individual plans in some small way - for each attendee to create at least one chai/tea cup that they can carry with them to their next destination.

We were greeted by glorious sunshine and so we set up our space under a huge tree in the garden, where today’s group spontaneously formed. Shanika introduced cup-making to the group through three methods using our hands: pinch, slab and coil. Each person worked with focus, confidence, group effort, humour and encouragement throughout producing the first lot of cups ready for the kiln.

The clay cups from this and the next session, will be fired twice under intense conditions, creating a watertight, robust handheld vessel that on our final session, will contain sweet chai including Sri Lankan cinnamon, made by the hugely supportive hotel management team.

With funds from Quartet Community Foundation.

Words by Shanika Dedunu Yeomans (@ceramicsbyshani), Amy Wilson and Sarah Robinson