Afghan pottery has a deep root and connection to the history of Afghanistan. Although the use of mud dishes among Afghan citizens has long faded, some of the talented individuals in Kolali area of Istalif district in Kabul has kept the art alive.
Traditional Afghan pottery is well known in the village of Istalif for over 1,400 years, using the same traditional methods. Its craftsmen believe that pottery came to life in Afghanistan with Alexander the Great, thought their techniques have changed little since then.
A 16-year-old Mohammad Hashim, who is currently at grade 10 and started the craft since he was 12, said, “I want to keep up my studies to a doctoral level, as well as be a skilled potter and continue pottery because this industry has remained to us from our ancestors and I must try to keep it.”
Pottery, beside skills, requires equipment to form a usually kitchen utensils; made from balls of clay into which fingers or thumbs are inserted to make the opening, then may have become a good-looking pot or similar stuff. And yet, these pots are to be heated at low temperatures after being painted in various colors.
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