Kornos Pottery & Lefkaritika Lessons
October 27, 2015 by Scran | 0 comments
Today we are sharing the third instalment from the Archnetwork Erasmus+ course, Empowering Communities in Cyprus.
Thursday 17th September 2015. Today was a hands-on day. In the morning we journeyed 25 minutes north east of Lefkara, to the small village of Kornos. 
Here we were greeted by the wonderful, women of the pottery cooperative. They provided us with a demonstration of their pot making techniques and the opportunity to make our own using the rich red terracotta clay. Coffee was served and through translation we exchanged lots of information. The unprocessed clay sat in mound by the side of the road which I found curious, so I enquired about it’s preparation, as it is heavy work. A tour of the clay mill & machinery ensued and it was explained that a local man helped with this. We looked around the store room full of fired pots in all shapes and sizes, from bee hives to cooking pots. We saw their working electric kiln. There was also an unmissable 200 year-old, brick-built, wood-fired kiln – a thing of beauty in need of restoration, which is planned. Another more dilapidated kiln sat crumbling behind the main building, seemingly beyond repair.
The shop also served as a make shift museum, displaying photographs of the potters throughout the 20th Century when it was a much larger concern, employing many more villagers and supporting more families. Today there are no young people joining the Kornos pottery or learning the skills, so it’s long term future is uncertain.
The pottery workshop facilities were very basic, partially in the open air. As we were working it struck me, the pace at which the potter’s could complete an entire pot was hastened because of the warmer climate allowed the clay to firm up much quicker than the UK. Paired with their perfectly honed building skills, the potters could produce a complete decorated piece in under an hour, to await firing in the kiln.
I also asked about the potters’ health, if anyone suffered from chest complaints from the clay dust, which can cause silicosis, they all shook their heads. The workshop had no extraction system, which is mandatory for health & safety in the UK. Then again, the workspace was open and ventilated by nature. I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting my pot making skills as well as meeting these great people.
In the afternoon we returned to Lefkara clutching our unfired earthenware. 
It was time to apply more dexterity and attempt some Lefkara lace making. Panayiota was our patient teacher and she started us off by showing the margarite pattern. This geometric design requires precision embroidery, good eyesight for counting warp & weft threads and for a beginner, vast amounts of concentration. The instructions made perfect sense but putting it into practice was another matter. The lesson made us all appreciate Lefkaritika that wee bit more.
Imagery © J.Sangster
Tuesday 15th September 2015. Our all-female, party of five had travelled from Scotland. The group consisted of heritage & education professionals with definite interests museum practice, interpretation, learning and community engagement. Although, through the week other interests & skills would surface as we got to know each other.
The village & surrounding area is renowned for it’s lace making, so much so, in 2009 it was recognised by UNESCO. Lefkara laces or Lefkaritika was added to the list of the 
Here we were welcomed with some homemade traditional lemonade & shown a wealth of Lefkaritika as well as locally made silver jewellery. I had not seen the lace in reality before and there was no doubt that Lefkaritika was indeed beautiful. The pieces on offer were mostly traditional & could be considered old fashioned by some, however the lace is labour intensive to produce and requires years of skill to become a proficient maker. The lace makers of Lefkara are traditionally women, who learn the art from their mothers & grandmothers. Sadly this knowledge of applying cotton thread to linen is being lost as the population shifts away from Lefkara and other socio-economic pressures increase on Cypriot life.
aware of the power and impact of certain colour schemes. We were informed the homes with blue doors, shutters & window frames, were those of Greek Cypriots whereas the homes with green paintwork, were those of Turkish Cypriots, some of which were unoccupied. In the same vein, many doors had knockers in the shape of a woman’s hand. These would be referred to as the hand of Mary or the hand of Fatima depending on whether it was a Greek Cypriot Christian or Turkish Cypriot Muslim home respectively. Amongst the numerous Greek Orthodox churches in Lefkara we visited the impressive & ornate 14th Century Timios Stavros church. Further down the hill we also admired the derelict, but well maintained, mosque. It quickly became apparent to me that impact of history, politics and conflict was visible everywhere. As a visitor it was plain to see Lefkara is one village, with two distinct communities linked through many common threads.
Our evening meal was prepared for us by our second host, Panayiota Demetriou local resident of the neighbouring village of Kato Drys. We observed the lighting of the customary Cyprus outdoor oven, a selection of dishes including tavas was put in & the domed oven was then sealed with clay for several hours of slow cooking. The results were delicious & served us well as a welcoming feast.
The staff at the library kindly allowed us to use their Charles Smith Room, located upstairs at the branch and usually filled by exhibitions by local artists. In it, we’ve hung 19 prints of Scran images of the local area from the archives of the National Museums of Scotland, The Scotsman and RCAHMS. These date from 1915 to 1979, and depict a bygone age when trams were still drawn by horses, kindly lollipop men helped children across busy junctions and Morningside Station was still a regular stop on the Edinburgh Suburban line. We worked with 
