Tunisia- A Tunisian Masters the Art of Crafting Ceramic Clocks

Location: Tunis- Tunisia

Language: Arabic

Voice: Natural

Duration: 00:05:10

Source: A24

Restrictions: A24 Clients

Dateline: 29/01/2022

Storyline

Amin Lasram, a Tunisian engineer who is passionate about ceramic crafts, started making handmade ceramic clocks as a hobby but then it turned into a source of income. He mastered the art of crafting unique ceramic clocks with high technology which are used as decorative pieces or wall clocks. Amin points out that making ceramic clocks needs considerable time and great effort, as it goes through several stages, such as drying, painting, and baking. Therefore, he cannot always meet all the customers’ orders. Amin employs several techniques in his craft, including the Raku technique, a Japanese technique that gives the appearance of black veins in ceramic clocks

Shot list

-SOUNDBITE (Amin Lasram, a Tunisian engineer)

I’m an architect with ten years of experience. I studied architecture at the engineering office in Sidi Bou Said. However, I decide to change my career path to work in crafting ceramics. I started with an introductory training course and learned the craft.  The idea of ceramic clocks came by chance at first; I had a broken clock and wanted to replace it but when I couldn’t find a special clock like the one I used to have, I decided to craft a ceramic clock by myself

-SOUNDBITE (Amin Lasram, a Tunisian engineer)

Currently, I have a whole set of clocks with various shapes. I call them Rock clocks. Because making ceramic clocks necessitates a lot of work and time, I don’t always meet customer orders 

-SOUNDBITE (Amin Lasram, a Tunisian engineer)

The process of making ceramic clocks starts with clay, which I import from outside the country. The process goes through different phases and ceramics need time to dry up

-SOUNDBITE (Amin Lasram, a Tunisian engineer)

Clay comes in large molds. I roll out the slabs of clay and cut them into certain forms. I leave them to dry up to then put them in the oven

-SOUNDBITE (Amin Lasram, a Tunisian engineer)

After baking the ceramic piece, I start coloring. For every type, I use certain color.

-SOUNDBITE (Amin Lasram, a Tunisian engineer)

I use a special technique in some clocks called Raku, a Japanese technique that gives the appearance of black veins in ceramic clocks

-SOUNDBITE (Amin Lasram, a Tunisian engineer)

Such craft requires a lot of patience. To make a perfect piece of ceramic, I need considerable time

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