A terracotta workshop was held in Jaffna (Northern Sri Lanka) in July 2005 to train individuals affected by armed conflict (especially women) to learn how to use locally available clay in pottery-making and to learn pottery and clay techniques.  The intention of the workshop is to provide self-employment opportunities using locally available material.

The terracotta workshop was held with the collaboration of SETHU Site for Visual Culture, a Jaffna based artists group and the Cultural Program of Member of Parliament for Jaffna.  The workshop had a participation of 22 local craft artists from number of potter’s villages.  The workshop was to provide opportunity for developing and expanding the design sense of local craft artists as well as to experiment on new techniques and clay varieties.  Workshop was conducted by 3 Theertha artists Sarath Kumarasiri, Torine Chandrasekera and Bandu Manamperi where they were able to work with the local craft artists.  Workshop will continue in the future if the political situation in Jaffna prevail clam.  The main objectives of the program are to come up with feasible clay base through experimentation with the local material and artists and to train the trainers in design and technique.