10 Nov 2016

One of the country’s exceptional traditional pottery makers Ditshekiso has vowed to keep the art of making pottery alive.

She is willing to pass the traditional techniques to the next generation with hope of keeping that art alive.

A Borakalalo resident in Molepolole, Ditshekiso boasts of 52 years in the industry and has received several accolades in recognition of her artistic talent.

She is also an overall winner in this year’s annual President’s Day Competition under the traditional pottery section.

She notes that pottery making requires someone who has the passion, interest and patience as one may take longer to see the rewards. “Those with the ambition may come forth to learn especially the younger generation so as to preserve the Setswana culture. The lessons however come at a cost.”

In the past traditional pots were used for various purposes in the household such as storage items for traditional brew, cooking and water storage something that Ditshekiso says has changed as traditional pots are now used for decorating.

The 72-year-old states that she learnt pottery making at a tender age from her parents who were also in the same trade.

“My life has always depended on pottery making. I once tried my luck as a maid but it did not work as I realised it was not where my passion lies,” she says.

As she shares the story of her life and the hardships she went through, she explains that by thinking outside the box she was able to explore her artistic talent to change her life for the better.

She points out to the modern house she has been able to build for herself including being able to educate her children as well as her grandchildren thanks to her pottery making skills.

Ditshekiso further notes that she has been able to pass on her pottery making skills to three of her children, adding that two are active and they always participate in the President’s competition.

In making the pots, the award winning pottery maker said she uses different soils being moraga and letsopa and decorates the pots with other different soils. However age seems to be catching up with

Ditshekiso who says due to old age she is unable to walk around selling her products like in the past. This she says has affected her income but she notes that she is willing to use other avenues like Market Day to sell her products.

“I also struggle with the soils I use to make pottery. After identifying a place to source my soil from, the landboard ends up allocating that space to someone.”

Another shortfall for Ditshekiso is that having been in the trade for some years, she has not been able to build a permanent structure to operate from in order to protect her business from harsh weather conditions.

On the other hand, she expressed gratitude to government for always engaging her to teach those willing to learn traditional pottery making saying the profits allows her to put food on the table for her family.

Ditshekiso’s future ambitions is for the pottery makers to establish an association that will help boosts sale of their products and to improve their skills as they will learn from each other. ENDS