Earth under Transformation, the endangered material knowledge from the Oleiras do Candel Community of producing ancient Ceramic Pots and maintaining sustainable architectural techniques

PI: Ana Carolina Brugnera | Collaborators: Lucas Bernalli Fernandes Rocha | Project ID: 2022SG02
Location of Research: Cônego Marinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil | Host Institution: Pequi do Cerrado Institute

In Oleiras do Candeal, north of Minhas Gerais and between the Cerrado and Caatinga biomes of Brazil, women have shaped the earth into pots and storage vessels for over a century. The craft embodies resistance against droughts and persistence across generations. However, diminishing resources and lack of continuity in new generations have threatened this material practice and the community’s knowledge perpetuation. In collaboration with the Pequi do Cerrado Institute, this project seeks to engage Oleiras do Candeal’s residents in a collective effort to preserve their ceramic heritage. Particular emphasis was given to involving young women and empowering them to register cultural assets and create documentation. The project culminated with the construction of a small community receptive to house and display this documentation.

Methodology

The concept of ‘build beside’ founded the fieldwork approach. That is, a trans-disciplinary consideration of experience, positionality, knowledge, and identity. Research unfolded primarily through participatory action and semi-structured interviews covering oral history and lived experience, and centered on the livelihoods and practices of thirteen potters and two earth construction specialists. The investigators used still and video photography as the primary modes of documentation, with a supplementary analog black-and-white camera used to ‘document and share the essence of the pictures with the community.’ Local children were encouraged to produce their own documentation alongside investigators using a disposable analog camera. Further 3D documentation of objects was conducted using a Creaform laser scanner, and geographic coordinates were recorded with a Garmin Etrex GPS.

Project documentary

Cultural landscapes (clay collection, Toá collection, wood collection, territory use, and mind maps)

Potters have a learned understanding of the landscape, including what areas yield the best clay. Clay comes dry from the ground in white, black, and yellow forms, with yellow producing the strongest ceramics. Toá, a natural yellow pigment, is collected during these trips as well.

Ceramic modeling (clay mass production, modeling pots, finishing pots)

Ceramics are formed by hand and their shape refined using a cutcheba (spatula). Once the ceramics have dried, they are scraped and polished to ready them for firing.

Toá ink and Painting (Toá powder production, Toá ink production, Painting)

As with the clay, the toá pigment is pounded and sieved into a fine powder. It is then boiled in water to make a slurry that potters can use to paint ancestral designs on their ceramics.

Burning (burning process, finished ceramics)

The potters use a top-loading oven to fire their pieces, a process known as enfurnar. Pieces are covered with old ceramic shards before the fire is lit. Black smoke signals completion, and the pieces are left to rest for a day before removal.

Construction techniques (adobe, ceramic tiles)

Adobe construction techniques have a vibrant history in the region and contribute each part of the building, from the foundation to the roof tiles.

Community engagement activities

Given the opportunity to carry out heritage education activities at the local level, two workshops were held in the public school of the municipality of Conego Marinho. During these workshops, students were introduced to the cultural values of the material knowledge of the Oleiras do Candeal community. The initiative was coordinated by social mobilizer Lucas Rocha, who worked with two young communicators from the Candeal community (Layane and Laysa). Together they conducted awareness-raising activities on the heritage, cultural-historical context, and environmental issues. There was also an archaeology laboratory and a small exhibition of prehistoric artifacts (replicas). Finally, practical activities were carried out, such as modeling ceramic pieces and drawing on paper to simulate rock art – no cost for the project. The construction of the receptive was carried out during the records of the constructive techniques, and this was successfully completed. A complete record of the adobe and ceramic tile techniques was made. Regarding the “pau a pique” technique, the focus was given to the interviews since the current source of natural materials is no longer available nearby.