The black soothed, thin-walled red clay cooking pot on one of my studio shelves in the Yarramalong valley is not just an empty cooking pot or vessel. It embodies multiple functions and stories. Made by Ruth in a small, coastal hamlet in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and used as a cooking pot and part of local gift exchanges in a neighboring village, it ended up travelling across the globe, turning into a ‘conversation piece’ in the Netherlands, Indonesia, and now, in Australia. For me, it is a treasured heirloom, as well as inspiration for my own ceramic practice.