Joseph Barchini
With him, the most ancestral of works becomes a modern art. Former Student of Teachers Training College, he specializes in psycho pedagogy at the Teachers Training College of Aix-En-Provence in 1955. Eager to knowledge, he follows up oriental studies and Islamology as well as Humanities at the Saint Joseph University, in addition to a BA in Management and Finances at the Lebanese University. Following that, he organizes trainings and activities in the manual pedagogic technology workshop at the Teachers Training College of Beirut. At the School of art crafts, he specializes in Ceramics and crown all this by a third cycle of research in “The handicraft production of actual ceramic in Lebanon, technical researches, stylistics and linguistics” at the Sorbonne in 1965. Ceramic requires knowledge in geography and geology in order to recognize the important sites for the extraction of clay, in history to be inspired thereby improve the old pieces, in sociology for the observation of the daily life, the manners and traditions of the craft-potter, and particularly in applied chemistry, since the clay is a hydrated alumina silicate. Multi-formation, double objectives: pedagogic and economic. On one hand, he aims at improving the life conditions of potters by developing and modernizing their profession. On the other hand, he brings technical assistance based on: the choice of raw materials used in the composition of the paste, the filtration of the ceramic slip by the sieve; improvement of the cleanness of the settling tank, diversification of the turned or modeled pieces, mechanization of the mixture of the clay with the raw materials and at last, encouragement of the creation of miniature pieces according to the need of the tourism market. His major concern was the improvement of the means, modes and frames in the same craft continuity. If it is needed to be more liberal in the production of functional pieces, Dr. Barchini was keen to save the style of the patrimonial pieces while following with caution the evaluation process.
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