Lecture / Confrontations 2: Evelien Bracke (UnScene) & Marjan Unger
At St. Lucas Antwerp, the first ‘Confrontations’ (lecture) of the semester started with an update of their research project ‘UnScene’. Art historian Evelien Bracke explained how this, theory- and practice, based research project fits into the curriculum of the students of St Lucas University College of Art and Design Antwerp.
Through research and discussion, ‘UnScene’ focuses on new approaches of presenting jewelry in multiple media. It bridges initiatives taken by the department, including these ‘Confrontations’ series, and also the assignments, workshops and exhibitions that have been planned. With a few real-life examples, Evelien Bracke showed how new and considerate presentation, works as an added bonus.
Next, the word went to the renowned Dutch art historian Marjan Unger, who has a life-long career specializing in jewelry. Apart from teaching, she has written a classic book in 2004, ‘Het Nederlandse sieraad in de 20e eeuw.’ (Dutch jewelry design in the 20th century), and has recently finished her thesis ‘Jewellery in context’. She is an avid jewelry-collector, focusing on Dutch jewelry, and at the presentation of her PhD, she donated her extensive collection of jewelry from the 20th century to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
In her thesis, she looked at the analysis of the diverging aspects of jewelry as a worldwide phenomenon, while the traditional art historical perspective on Dutch jewelry, does usually not go back further in time than the 1960’s (with Emmy van Leersum, Gijs Bakker, Françoise van den Bosch, …, as the founders of a new movement in Dutch jewelry design). The history of jewelry as a worldwide phenomenon can be traced back to some 100,000 years or more! In her research she has found that the full understanding of jewelry calls for a multi-disciplinary approach. To name a few, the relationship between jewels and the human body, symbolism, economy, history and anthropology are disciplines that should definitely be taken into account.
Marjan Unger held a personal and extensive talk, a summary of her thesis (including its’ images and images of the jewelry collection linked to it), which pleads for the view of jewelry in its’ own context, and suggestions to incorporate this context into the presentation of jewelry.
Such an approach has particular implications for the presentation of jewelry. Presenting work from that point of view, does not only cater for the artistic or visual value, (which usually is the focus of an exhibition,) but also for the historical, personal, or emotional, and material or financial value. The social value, in which jewels are used as a mean to let the identity of the wearer come across, also plays an important role. To Marjan Unger, jewelry in exhibition needs to regain its context, to emphasise its many intrinsic values, that are there to begin with.
The lecture was followed by an informal and animated dialogue between Marjan Unger, students and teachers on the topics of presentation and the position and visibility of the jewelry artist in a contemporary context. It stressed the actuality and relevance of these topics, as well as the importance for further experiments within these fields.
- Broes van Iterson -
www.broesvi.com
broesvitrine.blogspot.nl/
Such an approach has particular implications for the presentation of jewelry. Presenting work from that point of view, does not only cater for the artistic or visual value, (which usually is the focus of an exhibition,) but also for the historical, personal, or emotional, and material or financial value. The social value, in which jewels are used as a mean to let the identity of the wearer come across, also plays an important role. To Marjan Unger, jewelry in exhibition needs to regain its context, to emphasise its many intrinsic values, that are there to begin with.
The lecture was followed by an informal and animated dialogue between Marjan Unger, students and teachers on the topics of presentation and the position and visibility of the jewelry artist in a contemporary context. It stressed the actuality and relevance of these topics, as well as the importance for further experiments within these fields.
- Broes van Iterson -
www.broesvi.com
broesvitrine.blogspot.nl/
