Pretty Dysfunctional

Ghania Badar is a ceramicist, teacher and entrepreneur. She graduated with Honors from National College of Arts, Lahore, in 1999 with a degree in Ceramic Design, and post-graduation she gained 4 years of teaching experience, tending to thesis students at NCA from 2000 till 2004. She has been teaching, creating, and taking on new projects ever since. Ghania also has a great interest in relational and human psychology and spends her free time educating herself regarding the workings of our subconscious mind, and our responses to trauma, and shares her knowledge with likeminded people on social media. Currently she is self-employed and works on freelance ceramics projects and has also been involved with Turning Point institute for differently abled children in the capacity of a therapeutic pottery teacher. She leads various pottery workshops, and offers studio classes to families, children and the youth in her home studio. She believes clay is play, and that it’s important for all generations, especially the youth, to
remain grounded and connected with mother earth through this versatile, living, breathing, organic material that we ourselves are metaphorically composed of.

It’s a feeling of a ‘mela’ for ghania, where she shares some of her concerns that have touched her deeply in her life. The fragile and vulnerable, imperfect and impermanent nature of humans in relation to their environment, the sense of belonging and inclusivity, and the effects of harsh, hostile conditions, rejection, and ostracization. Coming out open and transparent, baring yourself emotionally nude against the facades and deceptions that society conforms to, hiding our despair and realness, which no doubt is somewhat private but is also the core place for all sickness. Reveal to heal. And storytelling and art is such a great tool for it.