ibkki
IBKKI is a creative studio imagined by two friends designers and travelers, azel and youri.
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born from a simple invitation to travel, IBKKI studio is now a meeting place between design and crafts where they seek to adopt a new look on local artistic and craft creation.
as apprentices, they work alongside the artisans in their workshops, to understand their approaches and techniques.
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IBKKI’s vases are made in a family ceramic studio that operates independently. the objects they make are made from clay that they collect, grind, and transform themselves.
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each member of the family has a specific role, one of the brothers throws and finishes the objects, another is in charge of the handles, their sister takes care of the decoration of the pieces, and another brother manages the workshop: he takes care of logistical matters and also helps the women to load and unload the kiln.
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location - algeria & france
materials - ceramics
craft - wheel throwing & hand building
"0ur studio is now a meeting place between design and crafts where we seek to adopt a new look on the local artistic and craft creation"
celebrating traditional crafts
the first phase is throwing. through working the clay, exploring, developing and refining in a multitude of shapes, ibkki's ideas and sketches finally take shape.
then comes the work on the handles. they test directly on the newly thrown green pieces. after the handles have been added, ibbki finishes the parts. next, they will dry naturally, until the water has evaporated and then fire them for the first time to obtain bisque.
the glazing process decorates the piece. it consists of covering the fired clay piece with a layer of melting mineral material. once fired, it vitrifies and makes the piece waterproof. a multitude of oxides, glazes, mixtures, overlays of opaque, transparent glazes are applied ... it is quite a long, but important phase of experimentation, as it’s only then the piece is finally revealed.
