Special firing underway at the Anagama kilns in Wytham Woods

Oxford University Kilns have been working with the Embassy of Japan and TORCH to put on a special firing of the Japanese Anagama wood kilns at Wytham Woods. These traditional Anagama kilns were created with the expertise of potters from Japan working in conjunction with Dr Robin Wilson, who leads this 24th firing. Anagama means ‘cave’ and the kiln was constructed to plans based on archaeological investigations of this ancient type of pottery kiln.

Participants of the firing team are drawn from various institutions in Oxford including the Archaeology Department, the Anthropology Department, and The Ruskin School of Fine Art as well as from other institutions including the Royal College of Art, University of Arts London, Clay College (Stoke), University of Loughborough, CitiLit, Oxford and Banbury FE College, Sundragon Community Pottery (Birmingham) and from various individual potters and schools in Oxfordshire, the West Midlands and London.

The pots included from this special firing event will be exhibited at the Embassy in London at the end of 2021/early 2022 as part of their exhibition 'Wood Firings', with a small selection also to be displayed at the Ashmolean Museum. On Wednesday 20 October the results of this firing will be seen live on YouTube for the first time, with a discussion over the successes and failures of the firing. For full details about the livestream, including a timetable of events, please click here.

This event is a collaboration between the Embassy of Japan, Oxford University Kilns and TORCH as part of the Humanities Cultural Programme: Japan Season.