Ion H. CIUBOTARU, SE DUC OLARII…

Anuarul Muzeului Etnografic al Moldovei – XXII / 2022

Abstract

This year, in the last decade of June, together with the first scents of linden flowers, in the park situated on Copou hill, we celebrated forty years since the first edition of “Cucuteni-5000” Traditional Pottery Fair of Iași. For four decades, craftsmen
from the most famous pottery centres of the country have been heading towards the city in the heart of Moldova, to show off their clay vessels dressed in festive attire, barely taken out of the heating ovens. The following lines are dedicated to the creators of these beauties, those of yesterday and of today, as a tribute to everything they did and continue to do, turning the last days of the Moldavian summer into a memorable celebration. These are emotional pages about people and places, about the unparalleled beauty of the pots and jars, about the exhausting work of the craftsmen who, rather often, pay a heavy price for the job they embraced with so much love. To those who have visited us so many times, but are no longer among us, we give praises and thanks for everything they have done so that this ancient occupation does not disappear. The fair of Iaşi is a good opportunity to rediscover the multitude of black and red vessels, glazed or unglazed, on which the ancient notations are skilfully fiddled over.