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Masood Kohari
Painter, Craftsman (Ceramic)
Pakistan
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Born in 1939, Pakistan
In 1966, a 63-mile trip from Karachi to Thatta (interesting archaeological site and traditional center of tiles and pottery) brought about complete metamorphosis in young painter. For centuries ceramics have been considered medium of artistic expression in Thatta. Here, in the stretches of the desert, the sand glitters under bright hot sun beating down fiercely from the intensely blue, cloudless sky. Harmonizing with bright sun shine, ceramists, who are also intuitive artists, work and design intricate patterns, using only blue, white and brown as basic colors.
The artist in Kohari was deeply fascinated by this medium. Inspired, he made exploratory trip to Hala, another town in Sind, which is traditionally the center of Sindhi pottery. The trip to Hala decided Kohari to work seriously in the new medium.
At first, hr borrowed some material from potters and designed few experimental tiles of his own, blue-and-white, of course, but illustrated in his usual figural style; but the half-hearted attempt left Kohari dissatisfied. Temperamentally, he would have liked to throw himself feverishly and frantically into the world of wet clay, oxides and kilns.
Kohari's sudden and unannounced absence for 18 months from Karachi art scene was later to be accounted for by the giant-size display of his ceramics in March 1969. Gallery of Karachi Arts Council, were he exhibited his ceramics, looked like well-stocked department store.
During these months, he had worked up North to the villages near Gujranwala, town in Punjab renowned for its pottery. Until then, pottery to him meant nothing more than the few decorative pieces, he had chanced to see in the houses and shops of Karachi. But, it was soon to become his life's guiding passion. To learn the age-old secrets of shaping, firing and glazing wet clay into toys, jars and vases, he decided to live with these craftsmen, whose trade had been handed down from father to son, for centuries.
Gaining their confidence was not easy. At first, they were highly suspicious of this city dweller, who had left his comfortable, modern world to live in their mud houses, eat their simple food and sleep under the stars, near their cows and buffaloes. But, Kohari's sincerity and passion for pottery changed their minds.
They were pleased to see that he had mastered techniques of firing and glazing. But, on occasion they were mystified by their enigmatic student, who was doing so many strange things, which they had certainly never taught him. For instance, Kohari would deliberately craze the fine sheen on the surfaces of his works by over firing or under firing them. Or, he would deliberately ignore the conventional uses of oxides and let them run wild into strange, unusual patterns. He would not shape his vases, bowls and jars with any particular care, and they would either crack at the edges from over firing, or he would deliberately distort them into absolutely non-functional shapes with his hands.
Seeing this, they would shake their wise gray hands sadly. He had forgotten all their fine education, they would say. However, they were pleased enough with their obstinate student, when he portrayed their life on his tiles and pottery. They would see on them vivid pictures of their farmers, cows, houses, children and their womenfolk, pictures which looked almost alive.
70 beautiful tiles, in sparking color schemes, with some drawings in relief of them, some with non-reflecting surfaces, some with super glazed surfaces, others with crazed surfaces, was for the first time exhibited, in Pakistan.
Less than a year, he left to Europe. In 1970, he held individual painting exhibition in "Gallerie Simone Badinier", Paris. He spent 19 months at "Ecole des Beaux Art" and "Savigny", learning traditional and contemporary techniques of the medium.
When he completed his schooling in Paris, quietly moved to Auffay, rented 150-years-old farm-house, fitted it with electric kiln and settled down to serious work in his secluded residence-cum-studio.
Kohari has abandoned pottery making: "I am not potter, I am painter in clay".
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