Unique Ceramics

Akwaaba! As part of a friend's birthday celebrations, Bronte, Materia and Carmilla had a chance to visit Unique Pottery to turn clay into creation. The workshop is located behind the Unique Pottery shop in Accra, which is very close to Wild Gecko, and it is possible, I think, for anyone to book the facilities for some hands-on fun. As I was not there to witness events unfold firsthand, this entry may be somewhat limited and highly inaccurate, but the pictures are good, so I'll give it a go. I have it on sound authority, however, that good times were had by all.

Everyone at the party got a chance to use the wheel, some molds, and Maxwell was the instructor for the session. Due to the fact that I am simple-minded and completely immature, I could not help but picture scenes from Ghost For a two hour session, including all materials, the instructor, and firing, it was four cedis per child, which is pretty darn reasonable. It should be noted that in a true Ghanaian turn of events, we were warned that we may not get our pottery before we leave Ghana because they do not currently have anyone to fire it!

I think the owner's name is Happy Ideall (wow, Ghana has hippy love children too) and he is a friendly guy. He apparently has another shop in the area that he runs with his wife, though the name escapes me at the moment. The area where the facilities are located is called Okponglo (try saying that five times fast!) and it is home to a number of local arts and crafts shops where goods are made and sold on location. Most notably is Wild Gecko Handicrafts, where imported (from all over Africa) and locally produced, high quality goods are sold. Most of the shops in the area (and in Ghana, for that matter) will fill custom orders for little or no extra money. Most are run as collectives, with the artisans and craftspeople directly involved. It is always a bonus when you can spend a Saturday morning having a little birthday fun, while spending money sustainably!