Starting tomorrow, July 1, and continuing for three days through July 3, some 155 juried artists and craftspeople will offer their wares for sale at the annual Berkshires Arts Festival at Ski Butternut. “We seek out the best American craftspeople. They come from all over the country,” says Richard Rothbard of American Art Marketing which has been producing this festival for 22 years now.  “We have a community of artists who have been doing this show for years. The vans start pulling in a day or two before the show starts, and it’s like old home week.  Artists are happy to see each other and once the show starts they look forward to seeing their loyal patrons who come every year to see what’s new.”

One artist who will be new this year is Matin Malikzada, and we venture to say that no one has journeyed longer or farther to come to this Festival than he has. A seventh-generation potter from Afghanistan, Malikzada, wife and four children escaped the Taliban and arrived in New Milford, Conn., in March of 2022, through the auspices of New Milford Refugee Resettlement.

“He is working in Connecticut,” says Rothbard, “so we consider him now as an American artist.  His work is so good we would have welcomed him no matter where he came from, but, knowing his story, we were particularly eager to support him.”

To some extent, Malikzada’s skill as a potter comes from being born in the right place and into the right family.  He comes from Istalif, a collection of villages about 35 miles north of Kabul. Blessed with rich clay deposits and clean running water, Istafil became internationally known for its handmade glazed pottery. Over hundreds of years, Istafil potters developed a unique turquoise glaze made from ishkar plants found in northern Afghanistan. Malikzada’s father and grandfather headed the local artisans’ guild in Istalif, and young Malikzada started helping out in his father’s workshop at age seven.

But, Malikzada exhibited extraordinary talent from an early age and now, at age 38, he has built an international reputation, in part due to the number of foreign travelers who would come from Kabul to Istalif to buy pottery and in part due to the support of Turquoise Mountain, a nonprofit non-governmental organization founded by the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, in 2006 to support and revive traditional crafts in Afghanistan. Malikzada headed Turquoise Mountain’s ceramics department in Kabul; through it, his work has been displayed in Buckingham Palace in London, at the Smithsonian in Washington, the Japan International Museum in Tokyo, the Islamic National Museum in Doha, Qatar, and the World Economic Forum in Davos, among other places.

How has the move to the United States affected his art?  “At first it was very difficult,” says Malikzada. “In Afghanistan, I had a wonderful situation.  I dug up the clay myself in the mountains. I made my own glazes from the local ishkar plants.  I also had my own kiln that I had built myself.  When I arrived in New Milford, I didn’t have any of these things. But a lot of people helped me.”

These people included important Litchfield county potter Guy Wolff and Jason Roberts at the Village Center for the Arts in New Milford who gave him clay, loaned him materials like an electric pottery wheel, and let him fire his pots in their kilns.

But the transition was not easy. “I had no experience with an electric wheel”, says Malikzada. “I was like a kid just starting out, learning all over again.” And then there was the issue of glazes. “I was accustomed to working only with all-natural glazes.  Last year I tried to import ishkar plants from Afghanistan, but they were too heavy to ship and too expensive. In 2012 I wrote a book about traditional pottery.  I am an expert in traditional pottery, but I had no practical experience with chemicals. But I started to experiment. I wanted to reproduce my signature turquoise glaze.  I made more than 400 experiments with chemical glazes.  I wrote all the results down in a notebook, and then the notebook disappeared.  Maybe one of my kids threw it in the trash by mistake. So, I started over.

“I am happy to say that I have found the right combinations.  I have been able to create something very close to my original turquoise—very close and very nice.  I have also created very good glazes in jade, amber, cream, gold and cobalt blue.

“I have also learned to use an electric wheel, but I still want a kick wheel. After all, I have more than 26 years’ experience on a kick wheel. Before I moved here, I visited the United States three times in 2016 and 2017 at the invitation of the Smithsonian where I gave demonstrations in the Sackler Gallery.  They found me a kick wheel to work on, so I know they exist here.  If I don’t find one, I will make one next year.  I am looking for a mechanic who can make it for me.  And then I hope also to make my own kiln.

“At first when I came here, I was working full time at Timbercraft Carpentry Company in New Milford.  I could only work on my pottery after work starting at 4:00 p.m. Now I am able to sell my pottery, and so I can work on it full time. My wife helps me. I have a web site, and local galleries are carrying my work.  I am happy to come to the Berkshire Arts Festival this weekend, and I will be at shows in Rhinebeck and Goshen later this summer.  And I have been invited to do a workshop in Washington, D.C. in September.

“This has been an exciting journey.  One thing my father always said to me was ‘Matin, think positive.’ He was right.  I have been thinking positive, and things are working out. “

Here are some samples of Malikzad’s success with new glazes on the electric wheel.