No piece left unmade
- Urban has been making ceramic works since the 1980s
- He gained the most teaching experience when working with people with special needs
- He is a great connoisseur of Slovenian clays and pottery
After completing high school at the Secondary School for Design, Urban Magušar worked as a theatre set sculptor. His growing fascination with pottery led him to join the Komenda Pottery Cooperative as an apprentice in the late 1970s. Since then, millions of ceramic pieces have passed through his hands. Urban is the founder of the Magušar Pottery Workshop at the Fužine Mill, and of the Pottery Atelier at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. "I contributed to organising several pottery festivals," he adds. He is also the author of the Master’s Work Practice project, developed within his association Fabrika Fabijana, which focuses on working with people with special needs. Having taught his craft for 30 years, Urban places great importance on training mentors in clay-based practices. "I initiated the project called Catalogue of Slovenian Clays, as a result of my obsession and total fascination with clay!” says Urban.
Interview
- Why did you choose to practise this craft?
- I have been wondering about this for half my life! Perhaps it is because clay is a natural material, and working with it draws you back to nature. It is damp, wet and unpredictable. You must surrender to it completely, as it punishes every inaccuracy and inconsistency.
- Do you master any specific techniques?
- Technique is like an alphabet, it is the basic tool that allows you to create. When you make 200 cups a day, skill becomes inevitable. That is why I am not interested in teaching beginners; teaching, for me, needs to be a challenge.
- What does 'well made' mean to you?
- When I feel that I would want to keep a ceramic piece for myself, I know it is well made. It is not so much about strictly following correct proportions as it is about conveying a feeling through ceramics. That is why I have more than 10,000 ceramic pieces at home, and why I have long been planning to open a ceramics museum one day.
- Is there a special project that makes you proud?
- I created a ceramic model of my hometown, Radovljica, depicting its history from the 16th to the 18th century. Every detail, every house, was individually made and painted. At first, I thought the project would take six months, but in the end I devoted two and a half years to it.
Urban Magušar is a master artisan: he began his career in 1980 and he started teaching in 1995
Where
Urban Magušar
