KARACHI, Jan 13: The two-day international seminar on ceramic art organised in connection with the fourth ASNA clay triennial ended at the Rangoonwala community centre on Sunday.

The first paper was read out by Swiss ceramist Claude Presset on ‘fascination for turquoise glazes’. Her research centred on the contemporary and historic context of the turquoise glaze which has attracted the attention of ceramists for long.

The title of Asma Ibrahim’s paper was ‘talking sherds’. It was about the ceramic assemblages from the archeological site of Bhanbhore with reference to chronological framework.

India’s Kristine Michael’s presentation was on ‘the glazed ceramic traditions of the subcontinent with special reference to Jaipur blue pottery’. It was an attempt at relocating the glazed blue and blue and white ceramic traditions of stone-paste and faience of north-west India and Pakistan.

The second session had Sadia Saleem’s talk on the clay traditions in Sindh followed by Namira Ahmed’s documentary on the plight of kumhars in the region.

The post-lunch session comprised a presentation by Amra Ali and a panel discussion on ‘the displaced and in-between narratives in contemporary art in Pakistan’.

Quite a few activities will take place as part of the ASNA triennial during the course of three weeks, including a gallery talk, from Jan 16. It would be conducted by Rumana Hussain for children in which students of 16 schools will take part.—Staff Reporter