In Colombia, La Chamba is a small village on the river Magdalena, in the region of Tolima, some 3 hours by road from Bogota. It is well known for the manufacture of black ceramic items for more than 300 years. It is principally the women of the village who work with this ceramic but the men have a role. They are in charge of finding and transporting the materials used to create the black ceramic. The main primary material is a very black clay which is the result of a very fine clay mixed with a sandy one. Both are found close to the village. The dry clay is crushed in large wooden mortars, sieved dry then mixed and kneaded with water. This creates the basic black clay from which the various artistic items are created. Each item is then fired which is done in a cask, their traditional ovens. At the end of the firing they add a kind of compost to obtain the beautiful natural black colour.
This pottery represents the main industry and skill for about 300 families in the village, which is about 85% of the population.
