Sze Wai-ling

HK Magazine: So, what’s your pottery background?
SWL: I have over 25 years of experience as a potter. Around 14 years ago, the person in charge of the St James’ Settlement’s rehabilitation service approached me and three fellow potters to set up a pottery workshop—it all started from there. Everything began from scratch: from clearing out the workshop, which used to be a deserted storeroom, to buying simple pottery equipment.

HK: What motivates you teach pottery to the disabled?
SWL: I believe anyone should have a right to encounter and experience art and no one should be stripped of this right, under any circumstances. In fact, a disability or physical impairment doesn’t affect how you approach art. I wanted to provide the students at the rehabilitation facility with the opportunity to experience one of the many varieties of art media—pottery.

HK Do you find the experience rewarding?
SWL: Of course. My experience as a volunteer has always been a joyful one. It has become my incentive to move forward and commit my past 14 years to this cause. I find it really rewarding when I am able to see students’ gradual improvement in their knowledge about pottery, pottery techniques—and even in their ability to appreciate art.

HK: What difficulties have you encountered?
SWL: Everyone has their own personality, everyone shares different interests and there are some people who have difficulty expressing their thoughts verbally. I’ve learnt (and I’m still learning) to be patient, to listen and to fine-tune to a language that allows my students and I to communicate with each other better. Many lessons have taught me to be patient because time is all it takes. Usually when new students enter the workshop, it will take me from six to 12 months to grasp hold of this new relationship.

HK: What’s message comes across in the pottery?
SWL: Students are able to express their genuine emotions through their final product—their joy, their straightforwardness. They simply do not have anything to hide. Furthermore, they are able to create a piece of art under a casual and burden-free environment—this is something that I myself cannot achieve. I think a lot of the time, potters or artists in general can be too rational, which may become a barrier to unleashing their creativity. But this is not a problem for my students, where their creation is simply based on a “gut feeling.”

HK: The pottery workshop has had a couple of public exhibitions, and it’s even been on TV. Any upcoming plans?
SWL: For the past fourteen years, we’ve never really intentionally planned what’s next for the workshop. Nevertheless, we do have a goal that we hope to achieve: to allow society to understand that mentally disabled people have the right and the ability to express their own views on art. We are hoping that the general public may shift their view on our exhibitions—so instead of visiting a pottery exhibition by mentally disabled students, they will see it as a regular gallery, showcasing true artists’ masterpieces.