Ceramics that connect people to place
Contemporary stoneware shaped by landscape and local materials. Bespoke collections for safari lodges, private reserves and considered retail.
I make contemporary stoneware in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, using locally sourced clays, ash and minerals. Each piece is shaped by the landscape it comes from, so that a mug at the morning coffee stop or a bowl at breakfast carries something of the place with it.
Some of Africa’s best lodges are memorable because of where they are. The wildlife, the food and the architecture all play a part, and handmade ceramics can become part of that experience too. I work with lodges, private reserves and businesses to create collections that belong to their surroundings, made to be used and remembered, and taken home from the curio shop.
Hwange Collection - Gwayi Green
A collection drawn from the Hwange landscape, made in Zimbabwean stoneware. The first glaze is Gwayi Green, developed in the studio from local materials and made to be used every day.
Create a Bespoke Collection
Guests remember the sunrise, the sound of the bush at night, and the first coffee of the day. The cup that coffee comes in can belong to that place too.
I spent fifteen years guiding before I turned to ceramics, so I know what a lodge morning looks like and what a cup has to survive. Now I build collections from the ground your lodge stands on: clay, ash and minerals gathered nearby, tested in the studio, developed into stoneware made for your tables.
A collection no other lodge can have, because no other lodge has your ground.
Hello, I’m Etienne
Wenwe Ceramics grew from a lifelong love of the natural world and the landscapes of Africa, including 15 years working as a safari guide. I now make handmade stoneware in Bulawayo, using clay, ash and minerals from Zimbabwe to tell the story of the places they come from.
Notes from the Studio …
