KVIC to make 150 square meters mural of Gandhi

When the entire country celebrated 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) decided to celebrate it totally in a different but unique way befitting Gandhi's vision of empowering villagers.

While inaugurating a two days workshop-cum-training programme named 'Technology for Modern Pottery' at Bishampur village of Sewapuri in Varanasi district on December 21, KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said that in a joint effort of highly skilled 150 potters from all over the country to give a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, the commission has decided to make 150 square meters (15 meters long by 10 meters wide) wall mural, using 'chai kulhad'.

"While each chai kulhad will be one pixel of the entire image, small terracotta parts will come together to form the entire image. As this mural will become a finite entity formed by a simple unit of larger generality, the KVIC will showcase it at some prominent place in New Delhi," he said. 

Saxena revealed that KVIC has already started identifying potters from different parts of the country to produce the chai kulhads for this very purpose. He also informed that as India has a great pottery tradition and different parts of the country has diverse techniques of clay production – the selected potters will produce the kulhads in stipulated size, shape and finish them with their respective techniques.

An Ahmedabad-based firm the 'Clay Club', which specialises in terracotta and ceramic products will design the artwork and will manage the production by engaging with the identified potters.

To make the life of mural long and all weatherproof, these Kullad will be glazed and baked in high temperature at Morbi in Gujarat, which is world famous terracotta and glazed clay articles. KVIC has so far in this financial year distributed 4700 electric potter wheels in different parts of the country and has planned to distribute additional 7000 Electric potter wheels by March

31, 2019.