Raaquu Hoseki Raku Pottery Vase, Obvara, Handmade Ceramic, Malaysia

RAAQUU is a ceramic art brand founded in 2020 from Malaysia. Manifested from the inspired mind of ceramic artist Adil Abdul Ghani, RAAQUU intends to make the magical world of Raku ceramics more accessible to ceramic art lovers all over the world. Almost 15 years ago, Adil was enamored with Raku pottery while undergoing a ceramics training program in Japan. He made a daring step to hone his expertise in all things Raku and the result of that decision led to the birth of RAAQUU. Raku ceramics are special because of the unpredictability of the raku firing technique. Raku firing is done in an extremely hot kiln and then removed while the ceramic piece is still red-hot or molten. Immediately after coming out of the kiln, the ceramic piece is then placed in a reduction chamber – usually a simple metal bin or container – filled with sawdust or paper. The extreme heat from the ceramic piece then ignites the combustible material in the reduction chamber, which is then sealed for a while. What happens inside the reduction chamber next is the key to the unique and unpredictable colors and patterns of each raku ceramic piece. Adil’s Raku pieces comes in 5 different types of finishes: copper matte, half-copper matte, carbon-half copper matte, smoked raku, and Obvara (a slightly varied technique of firing). At RAAQUU, each ceramic piece cannot be reproduced. This makes each piece a unique, one-of-a-kind work of art with its own story to tell.