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Tuesday, October 07, 2003
An earthy start
By Ritchie Landis Doner Quijano
The potter’s wheel spins not only soft malleable clay but spins as well the free flowing ideas of the potter guided by his muddy yet dedicated artist-hand. In the process, both the functional and decorative vessels we so dearly keep from breaking are formed, thus such an enterprise like Cardinal Ceramics Industries (CCI) wouldn’t be here today without that wheel and those hands and the people that appreciate their value.
CCI’s roots go back to around 30 years ago when the Tala Foundation was established to provide a means of livelihood and income generation for residents of the Tala community, a leprosarium. Benevolent knights and a Cardinal were behind the beginnings of the noble project, which at first involved humble hog-raising and ceramics manufacturing. But before functional ceramics came into the big picture, CCI was selling red bricks for construction. It was only when the building business declined that they shifted interest into making useful vessels like ethnic pottery and stoneware at their Caloocan factory. The late grand chancellor Antonio R. Infante of the Knights of Malta (check any encyclopedia for its wonderful history) with the help of the late Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Rufino J. Santos spun the business into what it is today. Infante, an artist at heart, took a number of lessons in pottery. He constantly practiced how to form simple bowls and vessels using river clay with only a potter’s wheel and a small electric kiln. The Tala Leprosarium that CCI supports is now renamed Dr. Jose N. Rodriquez Memorial Hospital and to ensure the continuing social and educational thrust of CCI, the Cardinal Santos Memorial School of Arts and Trade was put up for those interested in learning the craft of ceramics.
In Cebu, CCI opened its factory store in June of 1999 at the ground floor of the PDI Condominium along Banilad road, developing it into a bodega-type lifestyle store, a popular concept that evolved from the boutiques of the 1980s. A wide range of tableware and decorative porcelain are available here at factory prices. Of prime quality craftsmanship, it’s the choice of many discriminating housewives and restaurants in the city. From an earthy start, the ceramic business today has grown into a global venture, exporting to the international market. All this proves that mud isn’t after all, a lowly substance because when it’s molded into artful cups and hardens, it becomes essential vessels of everyday life.
(October 7, 2003 issue)
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