Ceramic Development and Training Program
Khmer Artisan Project establishes ceramic development and training programs in rural pottery villages in Cambodia. We recently established our first pilot program in Odonrossey village, Cambodia. Odonrossey village is a rural community located in Kampong Chhnang Province. The village is in the Tonle Sap region and this region is one of the poorest areas in Cambodia. Many factors in Odonorossey village help ensure Khmer Artisan Project’s program’s success, including abundant natural resources for making pottery and an existing population of enthusiastic artisan-potters.
Khmer Artisan Project established a community ceramics facility in Odonrossey village and by late 2009, work was substantially completed on the ceramics workshop. Khmer Artisan Project’s staff of five teachers conducts all of the training for the program’s artisan students at the ceramics workshop. The course curriculum includes professional development and training on correctly using and repairing pottery equipment, fundamentals of clay making, developing skills in shaping wet clay on the potter’s wheel, mold making, designing and developing prototypes for production, basic economics and commercial trade practices. Khmer Artisan Project’s program’s successes include helping our artisan students obtain a commercial contract to design and produce ceramic ornaments for the United States Embassy in Phnom Penh.
Class size is limited to a maximum of 20 students. The duration of the ceramic development and training program is nine months, from February through October, which is compatible with the village’s farming schedule. At the end of the nine-month training program, we anticipate that our artisan students will have acquired the skills needed to independently and successfully produce and market their work.