Mr Peter Mazoko, is the best artisan in the whole city in wood turning. We discovered him by chance, through word of mouth, through some other wood carvers! He is considered the Master and the Teacher in the southern region! So we have assisted him to build a new workshop near his house from where he will be working and teaching the craft of wood turning to develop future Masters in Malawi, who will then pass on the skill to the next generation.
The origin of turning dates to around 1300 BCE when the Ancient Egyptians first developed a two-person lathe. One person would turn the wood work piece with a rope while the other used a sharp tool to cut shapes in the wood. Ancient Rome improved the Egyptian design and in the Middle Ages a pedal replaced hand-operated turning, freeing both the craftsman's hands to hold the woodturning tools. Electricity has now made everything simplier.
Mr Mazoko operates an extremely basic lathe machine, but what he produces with it is magic! He is one of the artisans behind the award winning Blantyre Jar.
The origin of turning dates to around 1300 BCE when the Ancient Egyptians first developed a two-person lathe. One person would turn the wood work piece with a rope while the other used a sharp tool to cut shapes in the wood. Ancient Rome improved the Egyptian design and in the Middle Ages a pedal replaced hand-operated turning, freeing both the craftsman's hands to hold the woodturning tools. Electricity has now made everything simplier.
Mr Mazoko operates an extremely basic lathe machine, but what he produces with it is magic! He is one of the artisans behind the award winning Blantyre Jar.
