Passage - Ceramics at the Hyatt, Chennai

Rajeev Sethi at Pollinator 1. Hyatt Regency, Chennai. Curator of Art at the Hyatt

About 40 years ago when I first began visiting Pondicherry, I met with the tall and sturdy Ray Meeker and his partner Deborah Smith in their Ashram -like Golden Gate… Sorry! Golden Bridge Pottery. I know it’s not Golden Gate, but the name brings back memories of the late 1960’s in San Francisco where I would often sit by the magical Golden Gate Bridge—talismanic of a city that straddled many polarities with seamless spontaneity Ray and Deborah were very serious about introducing a new vocabulary of ceramics which included an eye towards the millions of traditional potters whose markets and skills were rapidly shrinking. The Golden Bridge Pottery has become famous and evocative for some of us always on the look-out for con- temporary sensibilities transforming hand skills for utilitarian pleasure. Having spent some time with the legendary architect Hasan Fathy in Egypt and struck by Ray’s spirit and experiments in fired building we spoke about his parabolic kilns that he fired as homes and that table- ware and tiles within could be made ready for the fashionable few. Since then I have always wanted to engage with Ray and his wonderful group of artists that have consistently evolved and redefined ceramic as an art form for this country. Scale and architectural usage were the buzz words. When I first saw live beehives hanging in the atrium of an abandoned building in Chennai—now converted into The Hyatt Regency Hotel—I was struck and moved. Where did the tenacious honey bees go for their nectar in a concrete jungle? Enter Ray, Paul and others from the practical utopias of Auroville. Clearly as we started to make the fifty ‘beehives’ as artwork to hang from each balcony in- side, one felt the need to resurrect a beautiful garden all around the building in the same spirit. Thus began the largest ceramic intervention in the landscaping of a hotel, made possible and exciting by the informed curatorial guidance of the Golden Bridge Pottery and the passionate camaraderie of my dear friends Ray and Deborah. I believe we will all be grateful when the bees come back.

Rajeev Sethi August 2012