A Pottery Making Workshop led by Afeez Adeoti and Mrs Adelanwa
On February 28th, the Canvas Club became a vessel of stories and heritage. We hosted Afeez Adeoti, a ceramic artist influenced by his art residency in China, whose hands mold more than plates and tiles, they sculpt history. Through the delicate curves of ceramics, Afeez unraveled the tale of his ancestral lineage, the Opomulero, the pillars of his people, proving that clay remembers more than just form; it cradles legacy.
Joining him was Mrs. Adelanwa, a potter from Abeokuta, rooted in generations of indigenous pottery. Her craft spoke in silent spirals and bold textures, each piece a whispered memory passed down through bloodlines and fire.
What we saw was more than art, it was a convergence of past and present, of precision and Abeokuta’s earthy essence. It reminded us that pottery is not just utility; it is identity molded by hand and flame.
The Hands of the Earth
The hands that shape the dust,
Knead whispers from the past,
Binding breath to the formless,
Until clay remembers its purpose.
Ancient palms press into time,
Molding vessels of memory,
Echoes of ancestors spiral in fire,
As earth is reborn in our hands.
Oh child, trace the grooves,
See the stories in the ridges,
Feel the rhythm of NestbyKuta,
Etched into terracotta veins.
The kiln hums in sacred tongues,
Blazing secrets into the clay—
Indigenous wisdom, contemporary fire,
Fusion of past and present desire.
For the pot that holds our water,
Holds our history too,
And the hands that shape the dust,
Shape the future anew.
Poem by Olushola oludotun
