The workshop
Gatagara is the first modern pottery establishment in Rwanda and has built a reputation for the quality of its ceramics. Eleven artisans work here. The location is the reason it works: the clay in this ground is unusually durable, which is what allows the pieces to survive firing and use in a way that hand-built earthenware does not.
How the work is done
Clay, sand and chalk are blended and left to dry, then thrown on the wheel. The formed pieces air-dry for a week or more before colour goes on and they go to the kiln. The glazes are made from natural material — ash, chalk, crushed red stone and sand — with cobalt oxide for the blue. The result is a palette you will recognise across the region once you have seen it made.
The visit
Two to three hours. Your hosts start with the historical and cultural background of the community — this was a marginalised group that is now fully part of the area's social and economic life, and the pottery is a large part of how that happened. Then the demonstration: mixing the clay and water, forming the pieces, and firing in the traditional kiln.
The workshop is working towards its own retail points elsewhere in Rwanda, mainly Kigali, but for now buying at the source is both cheaper and better.
Where it fits
Reached along the Gatagara Trail, ideally by bike from Nyanza. Combine with the Urumuri women's cooperative, a short distance away.