Sadia Salim is Greatmore Studios’ first artist taking residency in our satellite ceramic studio at the Observatory Community Centre. TAG takes time to look at life through her cultural and artistic lens.

TAG: You received formal training in design at a private college in Karachi, Pakistan. What was the art scene in Pakistan like then and how does it compare now?

Sadia Salim: At the time of my entry into the arts, artistic activity had previously been heavily suppressed. There was very little infrastructure for the arts and this persists even today –however things have changed for the better in the last 20 years. . Following the dissolution of military rule in 1988 writers, visual artists and performers found a new beginning, and freedom to creatively express themselves. It was in this open milieu that I began classes at a newly set up art school alongside some 45 other students. It was a very spontaneous decision to get involved in ceramics- something that has grown on me through the years. Artists returning from international institutions such as Pratt Institute and Rhodes Island School of Design who taught at the school were a source of inspiration and fresh ideas. There was so much enthusiasm at the time as it was a beginning of a new art school in the city which previously had no degree awarding institution teaching visual arts.

TAG: What makes some one specialise in ceramics. What’s the pull?

S.S.: Well a number of things…the feel and strength of the medium really appealed to me. I wanted to do something different-working with clay allows me to explore so many different processes and new things begin to emerge even at an unconscious level. In the fine art community few artists take ceramics seriously, however that is fast changing as there is a blurring of boundaries between different art mediums.. There is a precision around the ceramic process that resonated with my own perfectionist tendencies and reconciled my strong interest in maths. Over the years, I have found my inspiration from eastern, western and local ceramicists.

TAG: As a potter what are your concerns?

S.S. : I hold a post as a full time coordinator of the ceramic department at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, the school from which I graduated. This means that I cannot practice as a full time artist. I have worked on a number of commissions…I find that my concerns are always changing. I use my vessels as a metaphor for human beings/people. E.g. The the inner surfaces of a pot contrasting with outer surface, spoke of the duality in character of people. My work is mostly done in series of pots, 3 D forms or murals…

TAG: Your last residency was in Japan in 2005. How does the experience differ to this present residency?

S.S.: Japan was fantastic-a ceramicist’s heaven. They were equipped with the entire infrastructure a a clay artist needs. Holding a teaching post as I do, as rewarding as it is, requires time outside of the teaching environment to consolidate all one’s thoughts and ideas, this residency is part of the Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Award 2007 sponsored by the Commonwealth Foundation. It has come at the right time. It is easy to feel isolated in your art practice, you need that interaction. The satellite studio set up at Greatmore can be challenging at times. Being a distance from other artists, one does miss the artistic exchange often.

TAG: What are you currently working on, what can we expect to see at the end of your residency?

S.S.: My last series of 49 pots worked around themes of the city and urban space. I looked at the chaos endemic in a city, and people’s desires to carve a place of peace. My work was about finding calm, a place of escape from it all. Currently I am just experimenting and dabbling with newideas and materials. I am working around impressions gathered from the experience of travelling and working in a new placeit is a very personal investigation.

Sadia Salim is a ceramicist living in Pakistan. She is currently undergoing a 6 month residency at Greatmore Studios as part of Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Award 2007 sponsored by the Commonwealth Foundation. During her residency, Salim will present a series of talks under the theme “Art in Pakistan” that will serve as educational tool to local artists and crafters in Cape Town.