For keeping ancient ways alive, Greek potter wins Unesco nod
LESBOS, Greece — In his seaside workshop on the Greek island of Lesbos, Dimitris Kouvdis uses ancient techniques to create pottery pieces that have recently been honored with inclusion in UNESCO’s National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Kouvdis, 70, and his family have kept an old technique alive near the once humming pottery hub of Mandamados, just as the slow and careful methods of the past have been largely eclipsed by factory machines.
Their pottery is among the last in the Mediterranean to be produced from clay in local soil, using a traditional kiln with olive pits as fuel, with the pieces painted with natural lime.
“It’s an honor for me,” Kouvdis said with regard to the UNESCO recognition of his work.
He said a mechanized press can work at 10 times the speed of an individual potter. “There’s no continuity. There’s no space for (our) method to continue.”
Still, he continues to produce individual pots on an outcrop of land overlooking the Aegean Sea.
“Above all, it’s a passion — trying to create something that fulfils you,” he said.
