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DIAC 30 Years On!
On my recent visit to Dubai with an exhibition of New Zealand art at the Majlis Gallery and the pottery workshop with Peter Collis. I was delighted to see DIAC still operating successfully in Jumeirah.I first came to Dubai in 1977.
Dubai was boom town then just as it is today .The Sheikh Rashid Port had been built and Jebel Ali port was on the drawing board. My husband was an engineer and the possibilities were endless. We were in our twenties and thrilled to be in such a dynamic place as Dubai. My son Fraser was born that year in the Rashid Hospital and soon after I taught English as a second language at the British Council. In 1980 my daughter Laura was born and I returned to teaching. However, a friend of mine Liz Newington had heard that Anne Rooney was bringing an American potter Mel Jacobson to town and he would run a two- week workshop for beginners. As a child of the seventies I had always had a hankering to learn to pot.
I was hooked. Within a year of the workshop, DIAC in association with Anne Rooney who was a founding member of the art centre, set up a pottery. We imported wheels from England and an enormous electric kiln that amazingly is still used today. (The picture above shows the arrival of the kiln!)
Liz and I taught at the pottery for several years, learning as we taught. We tried everything. Experimented with glazes, built raku kilns and even built a gas kiln in Lizs back yard. I soon gave up the English teaching and concentrated on teaching at the art centre and working on projects at home. There was always an interested group of people and we held classes of some type every day of the week with childrens classes in the afternoon and evening classes so that working people and men could attend. Somehow even with the ever -changing population of Dubai we always had lots of teachers with different specialties to give classes. I left Dubai the first time in 1985 and did not really do any pottery for seven years. I went back to teaching English and had another child while living in Auckland, New Zealand. In 1991 we returned to Dubai and I naturally checked out how DIAC was doing. It was still going strong and was being run by a former student of mine Lyn Pederson. Lyn introduced me to Angela Murlowska and Irene Jaeger and we carried on the tradition of the pottery. We shared the load of glaze making, clay preparation and kiln firings. Lyn left a few years later and then I returned to New Zealand in 2000 and Irene soon after, leaving the pottery responsibility to Angela Murlowska.
During all those years I served on the committee and enjoyed the on going debates of how best we should plan for the future of DIAC. I saw name changes and logo changes, chairman and committee member changes, administration staff come and go. I saw art festivals planned, new centres planned, and constitutions re- written. Essentially, however, the centre has stayed true to its original format and has provided art classes to an enormous number of people over three decades.
I now do ceramics full time. Since returning to New Zealand I have studied towards a Diploma in Ceramics. Most of my knowledge and skill was developed at DIAC. The friendships I made over those years is something I value and for which I am very grateful. DIAC in many ways was my world in Dubai. You have a great formula. I feel strongly that there is room for competition now and that DIAC has a unique set up which will always attract members. Competition is good if you embrace it, do not let it destroy what you have. DIAC makes and invaluable contribution to the Dubai community and I am proud to have been part of it and wish you well for the future.
Anne Hudson
Enameling with Veenu Shah
 
Taking up the opportunity to discover the art of enameling, a small but adventurous group of ladies met on a sunny Sunday morning to meet a wonderful woman & learn the basic skills of enameling.
We were all captivated by Veenu's persona and we were in constant awe at her positive reinforcement of our creativity and her patience to our barrage of questions. "How long should I leave this in the kiln for? , What will happen if I do this or add this to this? were familiar questions on day one. Of course, following Veenu"s philosophy of Try, try, try - theres nothing that could be wrong if you try meant that everyone was instantly put at ease.
The history of enameling simply amazed us & knowing that we were about to partake in an art that dates back to 2500BC, we took the plunge to create with baited breath!!
Having covered the basics on enameling, Veenu took us step by step to produce our first piece. We were amazed at the ease of learning the craft, but all agreed that an intensive 2 day workshop was simply not enough and remain hopeful that Veenu will return to DIAC.
By the end of the two days, everyone had created masterpieces and was eager to create more, but time was up!
We would like to thank Veenu for bringing her amazing skills to DIAC and for her patience and never ending belief in our imaginations & look forward to seeing her again in Dubai soon!
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