'Bowl'ed over

A humble object, the bowl seems to have found its place among art connoisseurs thanks to the efforts of Bhairavi Naik and Rohit Kulkarni of Curators of Clay who have organised The Bowl Show, an exhibition of over 150 bowls in every shape and size, made out of stoneware.

Bhairavi Naik (BN): The best art is one, which can be used on a daily basis. All our utilitarian ware is designed and crafted for precisely that. It follows the Japanese pottery tradition of making the perfect bowl, which is considered a rite of passage for any true potter. We enjoy making bowls. The art is not as simple as it is assumed to be. It takes a lot of effort, hard work and precision to get the perfect bowl.

BN: We make our own clay, which is made out of five-six materials. All the work for the exhibition was done solely by Rohit (Kulkarni) and me, and there was no assistant involved. The exhibition was put together in two months. We agree that this is not the right season to make bowls as they take longer to dry. But we had to make a beginning somewhere, so we took it up as a challenge.

Rohit Kulkarni: Most of the bowls are made of functional, regular stuff. But there are a few 'concept' bowls, which are artistically represented. They include the few scooped-out bowls that are not made on a wheel. There is also an installation-of-sorts, which I call the Tip-Toe Set. Narrow at the base, these bowls are very sturdy but look as though, at any point, they will tip over.