“A three-year apprenticeship under a master ceramist, Japanese wood-fired kilns, six seats at most: the most thorough training of this intake teaches here — step by step.”
Sharman Riegger has what has become rare in Berlin’s teaching studios: a classical three-year apprenticeship — under master ceramist Uwe Löllmann, at Japanese wood-fired kilns, extended by study residencies in Japan. That thoroughness shows in the Collective’s course plan on Wollankstraße: the five-week beginners wheel course breaks the craft into its proper sequence — wedging, centering, pulling, trimming, handles — rather than simulating quick wins.
Six people per course at most, taught in German or English (labelled per course). Alongside Riegger teach Chiu Ching Man, who brings layered hand-building techniques from a visual-arts degree in Hong Kong, and Kristina, a practicing psychotherapist and yoga instructor on the team who stands for a course atmosphere in which mistakes are working material, not a verdict.
Remarkable for the neighbourhood: the studio runs an external firing service — if you pot at home, you can fire here. Infrastructure generosity like that is the exception, not the rule.
Course · 5 sessions · 12.5 hrs total · €365 · Materials included · For beginners
Taster · 1 session · 2.5 hrs total · €80 · Materials included · For beginners
Course · 4 sessions · 10 hrs total · €255 · Materials included · For beginners
The craft has a sequence: wedging before centering, centering before pulling — take the steps calmly and nothing has to be unlearned later.
