Lecture / Re-Public Jewellery Seminar
The seminar Re-public Jewellery was held at Galerie Handwerk during Schmuck in Munich, next to the exhibition From The Coolest Corner. Four international speakers analyzed different aspects of social potential in contemporary jewellery and investigated strategies to convey and communicate jewellery art in public space. The seminar was produced by Martina Kaufmann, Prof. Ingjerd Hanevold and Prof. Anders Ljungberg at Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Metal and Jewellery Department in collaboration with The National Museum of Art, Design and Architecture and the Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts.
Liesbet Bussche, researcher at the Jewellery Design department of St Lucas Antwerp, gave a lecture at the seminar. The talk 'A magazine and a party' focused on the artistic outcome within the last two research projects of the department. Other speakers were Yuka Oyama (JP/DU), Nanna Melland (NO) and Helen Carnac (UK).
Liesbet Bussche, researcher at the Jewellery Design department of St Lucas Antwerp, gave a lecture at the seminar. The talk 'A magazine and a party' focused on the artistic outcome within the last two research projects of the department. Other speakers were Yuka Oyama (JP/DU), Nanna Melland (NO) and Helen Carnac (UK).
Re-public Jewellery Seminar: Social potential in contemporary jewellery
At a time when the idea of our bodies has become largely generalized and often with commercial overtones, jewellery appears as an art form that has the potential to be relevant for far more people than what seems to be the case today. Although a critique of the institutionalized display forms has been taking place more recently, very few alternatives have been examined. This is the case even though it is in the nature of jewellery to relate to the body and society, rather than to the white cube. Jewellery as an art form opens for the possibility to explore issues surrounding body identity in relation to public space. In the project Re-public jewellery we want to investigate strategies to convey and communicate jewellery art in public space. This project aims to explore a more socially oriented approach to jewellery and return it to the public place where it belongs - RE-PUBLIC jewellery.
Summary of the lecture: A magazine and a party
Since 2005, research on jewellery holds an important position in the Jewellery Design department of St Lucas University College of Art & Design Antwerp. In collaboration with students and alumni, the research team wishes to examine the role contemporary jewellery can hold in the life of design-conscious people. We conduct this research via artistic projects and consequently use these projects as a means to debate fundamental topics such as meaning, presentation, social relevance and such like. This debate is not only relevant to our field; each project also tries to reach a broad audience in an unexpected manner.
In the past years we have conducted two research projects. UnScene (2010–2012) grew out of a question on the presentation of jewels. What new contexts, channels, media and target groups are possible for contemporary jewellery? And how can a message be communicated most effectively? The current project, entitled Afterschool, focuses on cultural entrepreneurship and as such questions in particular the communicative aspect of design and a design practice. In this lecture we wish to pay attention to the artistic outcome within these two research projects: Glue/Glossy and MAKE ME party.
Taking a playful approach, Glue/Glossy aims to promote contemporary jewellery as something natural to wear. For this purpose, a medium known to all has been chosen: the glossy. As researchers and as jewellery designers, we believe that repeated exposure to new ‘examples’ in the media will lead to greater awareness of contemporary jewellery and will strongly influence its acceptance.
MAKE ME party is a performance in the form of a ‘sparkling’ party. Guests are surrounded all evening by luxurious materials and seduced by shine and glint. As an artistic project, it challenges jewellery designers to take up once more the game of longing and temptation, inherent to jewellery, and to come up with a contemporary response to it.
In the past years we have conducted two research projects. UnScene (2010–2012) grew out of a question on the presentation of jewels. What new contexts, channels, media and target groups are possible for contemporary jewellery? And how can a message be communicated most effectively? The current project, entitled Afterschool, focuses on cultural entrepreneurship and as such questions in particular the communicative aspect of design and a design practice. In this lecture we wish to pay attention to the artistic outcome within these two research projects: Glue/Glossy and MAKE ME party.
Taking a playful approach, Glue/Glossy aims to promote contemporary jewellery as something natural to wear. For this purpose, a medium known to all has been chosen: the glossy. As researchers and as jewellery designers, we believe that repeated exposure to new ‘examples’ in the media will lead to greater awareness of contemporary jewellery and will strongly influence its acceptance.
MAKE ME party is a performance in the form of a ‘sparkling’ party. Guests are surrounded all evening by luxurious materials and seduced by shine and glint. As an artistic project, it challenges jewellery designers to take up once more the game of longing and temptation, inherent to jewellery, and to come up with a contemporary response to it.
