Investigation on Manemen pottery after 1990

According to the researches made, pottery dates back to 7000 BC in Anatolia. This tradition, which has reached the end of the day, has continued to exist in many parts of Anatolia with the decline. One of the regions where the pottery is most prevalent is the Menemen District of İzmir. The pottery made in Menemen is separated from the other regions by its own soil structure and easy processing ability of the soil and its own pottery types. Until the early 1990s Menemen's potters who produce in the direction of the demands of the internal market and do not produce ceramics other than the traditional certain forms have begun to produce export oriented products in the direction of demands coming from foreign markets after 1990.Diversity has increased in the forms of ceramics they have produced and there have been changes in production methods to meet the increasing demand. After 1990s, potteries of Menemen had been favored by studios in Europe, especially in England, in Germany and in Holland. From 1990 to 2006, the pottery tradition of Menemen had lived its golden years. The main subject of this research is what happened to the pottery tradition of Menemen after 1990. There are interviews and observations with the pottery studio owners about how they has changed and renegated to their style for the demand of foreign market and how they survived. This research thesis will be a source for the Pottery of Menemen. 8 different pottery studios has been visited in order to see how they are producing their products, what kinds raw materials they are using, and how the product types have been diversified. Consequently, the other types of clay bodies has been started to use along with the traditional Menemen's red clay. Machines have superseded the traditional clay preparation. New wheels have took place of the old traditional kick-wheels. The potters has started to do slipcasting along with other new methods. The old wood kilns had been replaced by new electrical and gas kilns. The potters has added varieties to their product types. Along with the all these innovations, after 2006, according to the observations, the difficultness of supplying the raw materials and the enviromental impact of the production zone due to being in the center of the city have started to some difficulties for the Pottery of the Menemen.