Stephen Myah - Bwari Pottery Village

Tucked on the outskirts of Abuja is a quaint, pottery mill named Bwari Pottery Village, run by Stephen Myah (an his right and left hand, Michael and Hamza).

Cross-section pottery from the Visitor's centre

 

 Bwari is located in the north-western tip of Abuja, neighbouring Niger State to the west and Kaduna State to the north and  inhabited by the indigenous Gbagyi tribe.. The Gbagyi are widely known for their skills in traditional pottery making - which made it the perfect community to install a pottery centre during Nigeria's colonial rule.

Pottery and clay has been used to make essential traditional household items for various ethnic groups right across Africa. The earliest discovered pottery pieces in the area dates back to the 4th century from the Nok empire.

 

We sat down with Stephen – actually, we stood as he zoomed around his site writing invoices, showing us around and cross-checking orders.

 

His journey into pottery making was because of pure luck. As a child, Stephen, originally from Biu, Borno state, Nigeria would often visit his uncle in Zaria who lived with an Englishman, Michael Obrien. ‘I met an Englishman in Zaria as a small boy’ he recounts. Stephen's uncle worked for Michael Obrien in the 60's and 70's in Zaria, often tending to the garden.

On one of such holiday visits, Stephen took it upon himself to garden as his uncle had been for Mr Obrien. On arrival home, Mr Obrien startled, asked the young man who he was. After a brief explanation, Mr Obrien invited Stephen to his house of 'some cake and sweet tea'.

Michael Obrien's hut during his time at Bwari Pottery Village

On arrival, Stephen was welcomed by an array of cups, plates and side-plates adorned across the walls of his kitchen and dining room. Curious, Mr Myeh asked whether he had imported the plates from abroad and to Myah’s surprise, they were all made in Nigeria in Zaria and at Abuja Pottery (Now Suleja Pottery) This was the start of Myah’s journey into the world of pottery.

A quick google search brings up several Michael Obriens. So we honed in a little more.

We did some more digging on ‘Michael Obrien ABU Zaria’ (luckily there weren’t/aren’t many O’Briens living in Zaria) and turns out he has played a key role in training and upskilling several potters in two of the most successful pottery areas in Nigeria- Maraba and Bwari. Maraba is run by Danlami Aliyu whilst Bwari pottery is run by Stephen Myah.

 

Once trained, Myah moved back home to Biu, a thriving town in the northern state of Borno, Nigeria to commence trading in pottery. At the time, Ladi Kwali had become extremely popular both at home and abroad. This raised the profile of pottery work in Nigeria which had been overlooked for more foreign, cheaper and seemingly ‘modern’ items. However the take-up was not significant within the local community as the prices attached to pieces of pottery were more suited to foreigners.

Setting up shop wasn’t easy.  Aside from the lack of local patronage, the clients Stephen was able to find were located in commercial hubs like Zaria, Kaduna and Lagos. With that, Stephen moved to Abuja where he has been for the last 38 years.

Distinctive 'Bwari Blue' finish of Myah's work

 

Fastforward to 2021.

The biggest challenge for Stephen has been one familiar with many artisans across the continent. ‘Sourcing materials!’ he exclaims. Although neighbouring Kaduna state has the largest clay deposits on Nigeria, Clay comes in many forms and for the type of finishing that is synonymous with Stephen’s work, requires sourcing consistently quality materials which includes quartz, granite, rice husk, and feldspar. Myah uses  close to 6 mineral rock types – aside from clay, to create the distinctive ‘Bwari blue’ finish of his pottery, a speckled navy with hues of white and grey.

 

‘Law school [biggest landmark in Bwari] and I moved here around the same time… this place was just a bush back then’.  The move has paid off, with his work being exhibited with the likes of Danlami Aliyu, Ladi Kwali and Michael Obrien himself. The move was although commercial, there have been other benefits too - Indigenous capacity building.

Every year he takes on 5 apprentices. Stephen's dream is to have as much impact on students as possible. However due to capacity and resource constraints, Steven is restricted to taking on 5 students at any one time. His dream is to train as many students, giving them an opportunity to thrive in the same way Obrien gave to him several decades before on his dining table in Zaria. Indigenous capacity development, in areas like Bwari is important to not only diversify the employment opportunities but also to to reduce rural-urban migration.

Although Stephen now focusses on technical training, he first love is in making and creating. Which is where we come in- We have partnered with Stephen for a beautiful limited edition collect with Mais Af – using the famous 'Bwari Blue' finish.