Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation

The book of Revelation says that God took some clay, breathed into it, and thus created the first man. As a good and Christian corsair, Vasillaq Kolevica would call it blasphemy to be compared to God, but he also feels like a god in his studio, where, precisely from clay, he gives life to artistic creations in his own way. “We don’t know when man started talking, but we know for sure that before he uttered his first word, he baked clay and made pottery.” This is how the ceramic master begins his story, which, most likely, was precisely this call of the ancestors within him, which led him to this craft, where utilitarianism gives way to aesthetic pleasure.

We find Vasillaq Kolevica in his studio, in what he calls “the empire”, which he is passing on to his daughter, and she, perhaps later, to her daughter, who has already begun to experience the feeling of creation.

Son of artist parents, Kolevica could have followed anyone’s path, between music and painting, but he chose something else, which was more closely related to his country. “Here in our city, pottery making is a 3,000-3,500-year-old tradition, as a concrete example is the Kamenica mound, where extremely beautiful and perfectly crafted ceramic objects were unearthed,” he says.

He approached the craft when he was very young and calls it luck that he “stole” it from the Korčari masters, who had not really gone to school, but elegance was born. “While I was finishing high school here in Korçë, I also worked, as such were the opportunities. I was lucky enough to work with craftsmen who came from the villages of Morava. There is a village called Bravdicë, which had 250 houses, where pottery was made in the summer, and coal in the winter. The potters of this village worked elegantly, despite being uneducated. But when you enter the world of creation, you are overwhelmed by all kinds of thoughts and probably, the profession had made them with an extraordinary intuition, they were very smart. And I’m sorry that such examples are not preserved. If they were in the world, they would be wonderful assets to keep. Unfortunately, today this village is falling apart, there is only one house left”, says Kolevica, while he does not hide his regret for the disappearance of traces of some traditions, which today would have served as tourist attractions. Not only the work of the masters, but the finesse, the way of communication, which they had gained from the trade relations with the neighboring country, Greece, have remained in his mind and influenced him, as much as his father’s teachings.

“I fell in love with this craft from them. At first I found it difficult, as it is a technique, extremely difficult to learn. I left her, my wife, but in the end, with persistence and the push of my father, who was a painter from the city, I devoted myself to her. “You can make art with anything, my father used to tell me, even clay.” That’s how I got to this day”, he says, walking around the studio, from where you can see all kinds of ceramic creatures, which have come out of his imagination.

“The techniques and types of ceramics are different, but for me and I think for many others, one of the main techniques is turning, which gives you the opportunity to create the imagined object in a short time. You can play with shapes and create art. I have tried to give another dimension to ceramics in the turning technique, to create individuality in the art of ceramics, with works that do not resemble those of other ceramists, but simply created by my own hand. I have created various works, with a philosophical, aesthetic, modern character… and I dedicate all of these to the lathe technique, which I have learned since 1974,” he says. Since then, he has devoted himself to it, from spring to winter, with hours of work and fantasy trips.

For him, making ceramics is not just a craft, with which he obviously manages to live well, it is not a daily routine, but it is thought, fantasy, it is touch, it is taste. “In addition to artistic preparation, a great deal of technological preparation is also required. Today I managed to distinguish between good and tasty clay. I mix several clays to reach the final one”, he says, showing some of the “secrets” of the craft, which he lovingly passed on to the girls.

“I don’t know if I did well, but I forced the two girls to study ceramics as well. They studied for 5 years in Italy. One of the other paths, for architecture, while the other is dedicated to ceramics and I am very happy that one of my children is inheriting this profession with love. I hope that tomorrow, this little “empire” that I have built, will know how to keep it and move it forward. I am convinced that he will do it.”