Andretta
Pottery is run by Mansimran "Mini" Singh,
son of famous potter Gurcharan Singh. Andretta Pottery and
Craft Society was started in 1983. It is situated between
the old Shuahk hills and the towering range of the Dholadhar
Himalaya. As well as being a production studio pottery making
attractively designed earthen slipware; it also provides
courses for aspiring potters.
Singh has been teaching studio pottery for about 40 years
now. Mansimran Singh was born in 1939 in Lahore. He studied
pottery with his father Gurcharan Singh at the Delhi Blue
Art Pottery from 1956-1959. In 1960, Mansimran went to England
to work under Bernard Leach and Geoffrey Whiting, renowned
English Studio Potters. He was invited to the Berlin Arts
Festival in 1961, gave the first one man show in Jaipur, followed
by joint exhibition with his father in Delhi and Bombay. Mansimran
began teaching at the Delhi Blue
Art Pottery in 1962 and he
gave also lectures at the Warren Wilson College, North Caroline,
USA.
"My father's aim was to make pottery available to a person of modest means. There are, according to me, two things very essential for a potter. First one has to slog it out and secondly the emphasis should be on good functional pottery and strict standards must be adhered to",
Mansimran Singh or Mini, as he is popularly called, says. In 1984 he and his
wife Mary, also a potter, moved to Andretta, Himachal Pradesh, where they make
functional, glazed earthenware and conduct training courses. From 2003 onwards
he has continued to teach students from India and abroad, plus holds yearly workshops
for working potters.
"I love the feel of clay when the pot is taking shape" he says. Which is why he does not stop people from touching and feeling his works during an exhibition. "I
think it is necessary to feel the texture to understand the art."
