Traditional Pottery Workshop Safi

The coastal city of Safi has been the undisputed ceramics capital of Morocco for over five centuries, producing the distinctive blue-and-white pottery, polychrome tiles, and decorative wares that adorn homes, palaces, and restaurants throughout the country. This two-hour hands-on workshop immerses you in the living pottery tradition of Safi under the guidance of a master potter whose family has worked clay in the city's famous Potters' Hill (Colline des Potiers) for four generations. Your experience begins with a tour of the master's workshop, where you see the complete production cycle: the preparation of local clay dug from the hills surrounding the city; the wheel-throwing of plates, bowls, tagine lids, and vases; the hand-painting of intricate geometric and floral designs using natural pigments; and the wood-firing in traditional kilns built into the hillside that reach temperatures of over 1,000 degrees Celsius. The master potter then guides you through creating your own piece on the wheel -- feeling the clay respond to the pressure of your hands as the wheel spins, centring the mass, and drawing up the walls of a bowl or vase under his patient instruction. Even complete beginners produce pieces they are proud of. Next, you learn the basics of traditional Safi decoration, using fine brushes to apply classic motifs -- the eight-pointed star, the rosette, the interlocking geometric border -- in cobalt blue pigment on a white slip base. Your finished piece is fired in the kiln and shipped to your home address. The workshop concludes on the terrace of the pottery hill with sweeping views over the Atlantic Ocean, where the master shares the story of how Safi ceramics evolved from simple utilitarian ware into one of Morocco's most celebrated art forms.