Discover Moldova with #MOLDPRES: Vasilii Gonciari Phenomenon - authentic potter

Moldova is a small country with a big heart, Moldova is a corner of heaven, Moldova is a successful country, Moldova is a candidate country for joining the European Union, Moldova is part of the European community that must return to the family... What is the Republic of Moldova anyway? What determines and characterizes us and how long do we still have the right to call ourselves an impressive European destination? How is Moldova authentic, natural, far from politics and geopolitics, Moldova that tries to resist at home, to make itself attractive, not only as a periphery of the European Union, but also as an active participant in the European agenda, being full of surprises and wonders just waiting to be discovered? To find answers to these and other questions, the MOLDPRES Team is launching a project, which aims to show all that is best and most beautiful in our country.

First history: Vasilii Gonciari, the only authentic potter in Moldova

Pottery is the technique of making pots and other objects from fired clay. Pottery making is thought to have started in the Neolithic period in the Near East (Phoenicia-Byblos, Iran and Syria) and in Japan, so later than plant cultivation or animal husbandry.

Goncear from Slavonic means potter. Vasilii Gonciari is a potter among potters. Vasilii Gonciari, the protagonist of our material, the son of Vasilii Gonciari, the grandson of Vasilii Gonciari. An entire guild dynasty, originating and established in Hogineşti village, Călăraşi district.

Starting in 1992, the future skilled craftsman took over the habit from his father and also became a potter. He initially worked in his native village of Hogineşti, and once he had got experience and mastery, he went to Italy, where he set up a workshop. In the more than 15 years spent in Italy, Vasilii has mastered everything that is most progressive in ceramics in the world. Back home, in his native village, he creates the most beautiful local elements from clay. They can be admired during the famous international fair of potters "La Vatra Olarului - Vasilii Gonciari", held in the master's yard in Hoginești.

Tourists have the opportunity to get to know ceramic objects and benefit from a master-class presentation.

The phenomenon of Vasilii Gonciari

The day I visited Vasilii Gonciari, at Casa Olarului in Hogineşti, it was full. Dozens of children on a trip, with parents and teachers, a crowd and commotion as in the great recreation. Lots of children, noisy and extremely interested, and in front of them - Vasilii Gonciari.

The potter from Hogineşti is not only a great master in the industry, but also an extraordinary teacher and psychologist. With funny stories and comparisons, with funny and witty words, with spirit and understanding, at one point he could not see the children at work, who had bombarded him with all kinds of questions.

Vasilii Gonciari at work is a phenomenon, a concert presented by the man-orchestra. 

Vasilii Gonciari: Clay is alive, it has temperature, soul and patience. He feels and accepts, or if he feels foreign or unimpressed energy, then he gives in and rejects. Pottery cannot be within everyone's reach, something special is required here, a kind of relationship with God who sometimes guides your hand.

Electronics engineer who went back to his roots

Vasilii Gonciari's basic profession is that of an engineer. Who could have thought that a perfect artist could emerge from a man of numbers, schemes and technical content. Clay artist, but Vasilii Gonceari claims that technical studies helped him to prosper in art.

Vasilii Gonceari: Yes, I am an electronic engineer, but this always helped me to arrange things exactly as I wanted.

Moreover, the craftsman likes to repeat in the work process: I am a machine. However, this machine is in the good sense of the word and processes some master-classes. The potter from Hogineşti states that, by the man's hand that he places on the pot on the wheel, he understands everything about the person and every time his demonstration at the working wheel is a show of a clairvoyant artist-magician.

The Potter's House

Using talent and developing a successful business would not have been possible without what is called +1, Angela Gonciari, the wife of the craftsman Vasilii Gonciari.

Angela is born in Ukraine. Out of passion for the Moldovan goncear, she left everything, including a beautiful legal career in Lviv, Ukraine, and came to our country, where she became fully involved in her husband's business. She speaks Romanian, prepares Moldovan dishes, is a friendly, hospitable host and works. 

The project "Slăvim Moldova de Acasă" belongs exclusively to the artist Vasile Gonciari, in which the master invests all his time, enthusiasm and creativity. There is also a large clay vessel here, with a capacity of about 20 thousand liters, which is to be included in the Guinness Book of Records. According to the potter, for this work he needed 33 days of modeling, 36 hours of firing and two days for cooling.

Vasilii Gonciari's pots are completely domestic products, because the raw material is from Hogineşti. For this, the craftsman bought the village pottery from where he extracts the necessary material for the activity. In general, with the return of the craftsman to his heritage, the village experiences a significant development stage. "I bought all the ruins of the village and made them functional, which bring income to my family and the locality", says Vasilii Gonciari.

The grace of a potter is not the same as the skill of pottering

Vasilii Gonciari: Being a potter and doing pottery are two different things. Not everyone who has a special wheel and material in front can be called a potter. A pot is like a child, you can't make them all at once, and you don't buy clay dishes at once either, each pot is taken home when the time comes. In the same way, a potter is baked and prepared. A true potter is a rarity. In the last hundred years, there were only six hundred potters on the territory of Moldova, concentrated in four localities: Tigăneşti, Străşeni; Cimişeuti, Rezina; Iurceni, Nisporeni and Hogineşti, Calarasi. That's why a potter is a brand, with his own signature that identifies him all over the world. With name, history, tradition, style and image.

A nation without traditions is a lost nation

Vasilii Gonciari: I consider myself a potter and this right did not come suddenly. This name has been consolidated over the years.

Tradition, often, is what identifies us. A nation without traditions is a lost nation. I wouldn't want this to happen to us either. I really want to pass on my craft. I would be happy for this art to be taken up by young people, but this can only happen when there is interest and desire. An immense desire to catch this craft and use it.

Correspondent Lilia Grubîi; Photo Mihai Vengher