kiln as kin: clay oven building workshop

tandoor, tannour, tandir, tonir—an ancient underground clay oven. Carrying different names, the tonir belongs to a family of ovens that are found across Central and South Asia and the MENA regions. The oven has always been a central gathering point. In Armenian cultural tradition it was seen as a symbol of the ‘sun in the ground’—existing as a sacred space in the home for baking bread, cooking, and performing rituals.

During this workshop we will build a tonir-style clay oven together in the ground at Four Siblings, using clay, soil, and sand from their land. Soil is one of the most abundant materials on earth, yet it remains one of the most overlooked. It is an extraordinary material to build with: it breathes, holds thermal inertia, and connects us directly to the land we inhabit. For thousands of years, our ancestors have worked with soil in many ways: growing food, shaping ceramics, building ovens and kitchens to cook with fire, and constructing homes. In many modern societies, however, soil is often treated as waste. How did we end up living so disconnected from such an abundant material?

We will be guided by ceramist, builder, artisan, teacher, and researcher Tatiana M. Melo. In Tatiana’s practice she transforms soil into kilns, seeing them not only as firing tools but as spaces of encounter, transformation, and ritual. For Tatiana, building with earth is also a gesture of remembrance and care: a way of honoring the knowledge of our ancestors and the land we live on. Gathering around fire becomes a space not only for transforming food, but also for reflecting on the narratives that shape how we live and where we are going

In this day-long workshop, we will learn how to understand soil and use it for different purposes as we learn by doing collectively. We will start with a theoretical explanation about soil, earthen plasters, and wood-fired ovens, followed by the collective building of the tonir-style clay oven. Alongside the larger oven, we will also build a small stove.

These kilns will be activated on June 13th, during : a day of gathering, firing, cooking, where we will prepare food, cook, and eat together as a way to share knowledge about food systems, forgotten recipes, and lost rituals.

We will be working outside, so please dress appropriately for the weather.

Lunch will be provided.

Ticket: €30
Student and solidarity ticket: €20

Location: Four Siblings, President Allendelaan 1, 1064 GW Amsterdam

Tatiana M. Melo is a transdisciplinary artist from Barcelona, living in the countryside of La Garrotxa. She works with clay and ceramics—activating the memory of territory through ritual objects made with stones, ashes, and words gathered from the community. Her practice centers on the transformation of soil into kilns, understood not only as firing tools, but as spaces of encounter, transformation, and ritual. She explores clay as an ancestral material, applying sustainable practices to construction and everyday objects. She has organized workshops and gatherings on collective building, ceramics, and community, collaborating with artists and researchers to rethink the relationship between humans, materials, and the environment.

Instagram Tatiana M. Melo

Four Siblings is a land based art and research project. They come together to create an edible labyrinth in the shape of an artwork in the threshold of the city of Amsterdam. They want to create a sense of belonging to the earth we live on, to the food we eat. They investigate collective ways of generating knowledge and make it as open source as possible. They want to do so in a mutually supportive way—care for our bodies while we care for the land, bring back biodiversity and seed resources, generate new local networks between artists, farmers, permaculturists, and residents, while learning by doing.

Website Four Siblings

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