Thursday June 20 at 5p.m. we expect you at the opening of the Alchimia Graduation Show 2013
Human
we are
say
HaNa Choi
Francesca Urciuoli
Lavinia Rossetti
Koen Jacobs
Enrica Prazzoli
Chiara Cavallo
Ioanna Natsikou
Lena Grabher
Anna Drexel
Unfortunately only in Greek, but we try to explain.
This is the poster and invitation of a new exhibition curated and organized by Natasha Kandaraki and Emily Bantouna which took place in Athens in the beginning of June.
Inspired by a red thread, to lead the imagination of students, younger and older, to create artistic structures, the Art and Communication Workshop Bleuteleia and the Contemporary Jewellery Workshop Anamma have exhibited together.
This game of artistic relay race with the red thread began with the children of the Bleuteleia Workshop, who created drawings and gave them to the students of Anamma, who in turn created their own jewellery.
It is really exciting to see how children and adults can interact and create dialogues that exceed mere play and divertisment.
Its been a while since our last post. Too much all at once and time is never enough.
But today some important news.
Giulia Savino
Weronika Marek
Andrea Coderch Valor
Congratulations to all of them !!!!!!!
and of course also to Ruudt Peters their teacher, and to Alchimia their school!!!!!!!!!!!
Last year was the first Alchimia encounter with Sieraad (Dutch word for jewellery) fair in Amsterdam, an appointment we believe has already become a must for all those interested in jewellery.
With great pleasure this year the school was invited to participate with an exhibition of the 2012 graduates.
The fair is located in the Westergasfabriek, a beautiful and charming industrial building of the turn of last century that transforms the usual aseptic environment of fairs in a much more staged and theatrical setting, indeed stimulating more creative approaches to booths and facilitating the viewers’ immersion (and attention to) in the visit.
85 jewelers were participating, mostly from Europe but not only, with very recent creations. And we can say we were indeed extremely happy to see such a numerous public.
Besides the graduates work in the school booth, three of Alchimia graduates were showing their professional independent work, and we are very proud of them: Catalina Brenes, Carissa Hsu and Camilla Teglio
catalina Brenes, neckpiece
Carissa Hsu
Camilla Teglio, brooch
Exhibiting at a fair is an important experience for students and young professionals. It is vital to see comparatively the work and approach of colleagues, analyze the work of galleries and so the related paths different institutions are taking, see clients and their different tastes and customs due to lifestyle and climate. It is also a unique opportunity to encounter a big number of other professionals and so possibly engage in discussions as well as try out the ‘going public’ within an ‘experts’ environment.
We found particularly interesting the work of Tzuri Gueta www.tzurigueta.com, designer and artist based in Paris and the colourful fimo and resin creations of Jilian Moore, who was just in time because of the hurricane Sandy.
Tzuri Gueta
Jilian Moore, neckpiece
A reflection on the preservation of worldwide cultural heritage, on the reassessment of symbol bearers, on the creation of new traditions and on the simultaneous revival of old ones in a new form, was the purpose of this year’s” New Traditional Jewellery” contest with the title “New Nomads”.
The Jury was composed of: Isabella van den Bos, verzamelaar sieraadkunst, voorzitter Foundation Art in Business Els van der Plas, directeur, Premsela, Dutch Platform for Design and Fashion, Herman Hermsen; sieraadkunstenaar en Professor f r Schmuck- und Produktdesign Fachhochschule D sseldorf University of Applied Sciences. Marjan Unger, art historian and publicist ; Theo Smeets, University of Applied Sciences Trier – Dept. Gemstone & Jewellery Design – Campus Idar- Oberstein; AZIZ, fashion designer/artistEveline Holsappel, Curator applied art and design, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem.Chequita Nahar; jewellery designer, Coordinator Department Jewellery & Product Design, Academie Beeldende Kunsten Maastricht.
These were the chose winners, within 3 categories:
Heester Popma-van de Kolk (NL)
Title: Wearable home ( two-sided necklace) material: chips from sim cards, credit cards, telephone cards, yarn
The chips are woven together with yarn to form a flexible square mat. One side is decorated, the other is gold. The yarn remains visible as a reference to the contacts that are made using chips. “This necklace is only done justice when it is worn” says the jury. “In several, playful ways things are hidden and things are made visible, and at all times only one side of the necklace is visible.The decorated side refers to the issues of the day: time, communication, money. The golden side calls up associations of illustrious civilizations, like the Egypt of the pharaohs and the Mayas. At the same time the chips contain information not visible to the naked eye. This necklace is a bridge in time”.
Sang-Hee Park (ROK)
Title: To have a dream-To pursue a dream (brooch) Material: goldplated copper, acrylic
Category students: Maryvonne Wellen (NL), Juliane Keßler (D), Patricia Correia Domingues (P)
Juliane Kessler
Title: Traffic sign (brooch) Material: aluminium, steel
Juliane Keßler: ” Some animals roam the world, using the currents of the wind and the sea for transport. We, the new nomads, consume a lot of fossil energy for our fast progress. Overall, economic efficiency dominates. I oppose this by recycling old traffic signs made of aluminum. Traffic signs regulate movements of people. It takes a lot of energy to transform this aluminum into jewellery with guilloches.”
Maryvonne Wellen
Title: Portrait of a clan member (necklace) Material: Plaster, Z-corp 3D print, paint, onyx
Maryvonne Wellen:” After collecting and archiving pictures of ethnography, I categorized them into a Western, an Oceanic, an African, an Asian and an American group. I decided to bring those different traditions and cultures together in collages using one piece of jewelry of each group to create a mask-like composition. I chose to use a mask form not only because it’s an ancient form known all over the world, but also because it covers the face and makes it possible for the wearer to take on another identity. This piece represents the melting pot of cultures, dominating not only today’s big cities but the internet as well.”
Patricia Correia Domingues
Title: Reflections on landscape 3 (brooch) Material: reconstructed ivory, foam, steel, silver
Patricia Correia Domingues: ” We have always been related to space. The places we traversed were the places where human evolution developed. They are crossings, places of reflection, shaped by human hand. Mankind is walking, moving, displacing and generating movements. Being nomadic means not only moving or being displaced, but also finding a place to rest, like a rhythm. Periods of reflection alternate with times of accelerated development. I believe my jewellery is about this timeless rhythm, where the past belongs to the future and the future relates to the past. the old and new became the expression of my imagination. This is my luggage; these are the tools that enrich my perception. My material.”
Interesting works, for different reasons, and indeed completed by in depth (from more personal to more sociological) research.
We look definitely forward to next year!
X
Following sort of a tradition by now, the new year begins through a workshop led by our amazing teacher Ruudt Peters. This year’s theme, as might be obvious through the images, was RED (last year it was DREAM), selected not for socialist reasons but as red is the color of the Chinese New Year and below is a short explanation of its reasons.
According to the legend, in ancient China, Nian (“Nyan”), a man-eating beasts from the mountains, could infiltrate houses silently to prey on humans. People later learned that Nian was sensitive to loud noises and the color red, so they scared it away through explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the red. So “Guo Nian” actually means “Surviving the Nian”. These customs led to the first New Year celebrations. So this year Alchimia celebrated a sort of Chinese New Year, Ruudt Peters in fact has just come back from a three months trip to China.
For 3 days, and divided in couples, the students have been drawing, painting and making collages through the red colour while also being dressed in red. They also had to find red objects and reflect on a space on their body to give substance to their red dreams.
The whole workshop ended through a ‘ceremony’ in the magnificent Piazza della Signoria, when a number of colourful balloons have been launched in the sky.
‘What are you promoting?’ was the audience’s continuous question.
Nothing really, art in it’s own right while having fun, was the continuous answer…
We are happy to point out to, and display some images of, the recently inaugurated show of our former student Anja Eichler at the Vander A Gallery in Brussels (on view until the 6th of October 2012).
The exhibition focuses on recent works realized while in Shangai, where the artist is currently based.
For Better Or Worse
EntWicklung
Extension
OnTheEdge_u
OnTheEdge
StableGrowth
ZwischenRaum
Furthermore Anja’s wearable jewels have been literary ‘enacted’ by Lise Vachon (Canadian choreographer and dancer established in Belgium), Laura Colmenares Guerra (Columbian/Spanish visual artist) and Todor Todoroff (Belgian Engineer – composer of electroacoustic music), intensifying the living materiality of the synthetic jewels.
Lise Vachon performing © Alexandra de Laminne
Lise Vachon performing © Alexandra de Laminne
Find more information on Anja here: http://www.anjaeichler.com.
And read more about the gallery and the show by clicking here.
Here we go with the second part of the short report (yes it took us a while but we didn’t forget…) of what has been achieved by Alchimia graduates and students in the last year.
Enjoy!
PART TWO
First we have to integrate the most important achievement in Summer 2011:
Marzee Graduation Prize to Nadege Roscoe-Rumjahn with her collection “Intimacy”
In her words: A human figure placed on the human body, questions the wearers’ as well as the onlookers’ self image. In dealing with the subject of intimacy, these trespassing- textile body objects at once caress, confront and offend. Starting from guttural expressions, blind drawings and watercolors; instinctive emotional responses emerge. The goal then becomes to translate these feelings into wearable objects. Through the act of obsessive drawing, this time with thread, I create the material. Based on the assumption that jewelry has the potential to violate the wearer’s private sphere I created these fragmented figures, which hover within one’s realm of comfort.
Eugenia Ingegno took part in the annual exhibition “Pensieri Preziosi”, Padova, Italy.
Selen Ozus and Burcu Büyükünal opened their own school “Maden” in Istanbul, Turkey.
To see more photos and get information visit their web site: madenistanbul.com
Carissa Hsu participated in “Brand New – New Brand”, Inhorgenta 2012, Munich, Germany.
Melissa Arias and Aline Battegay were selected for Talente 2012, HWM Munich, Germany.
Aline Battegay, aluminium, steel.
Melissa Arias, color pencils, resin, silver.
Sung-ho Cho and Margherita de Martino Norante were invited to Schmuck 2012, Munich, Germany.
Sung Ho Cho, wood, silver, steel.
Margherita de Martino Norante, textile, gold.
Alchimia was present at Melting Point Valencia with the exhibition “Hazardous Experiments”.
Hazardous Experiments
Several teachers and former students as Ruudt Peters, Lucia Massei, Peter Bauhuis, Daniela Boieri, Flora Vagi, Ara Kuo, just to name a few, were present at Collect 2012, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK.
Heather White from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design worked in Alchimia thanks to a Fullbright Grant. She taught workshops in Poliurethane casting and organized the exhibiton “Full-Middle-Endless” (Florence -Boston).
Dinah Lee, Weronika Marek and Izabella Petrut were selected for Marzee Graduation show.
Installation view
Work by Weronika Marek
Work by Dinah Lee
Installation view
Our graduates with Marzee
Last but absolutely not least, it is important to announce again, since the vacation period is dissolving and the new year is just about to start and we are all (!) looking forward to it, that Alchimia has been accredited by the European Accreditation Board of Higher Education Schools E.A.B.H.E.S.
From now on Alchimia will offer to its students a European Bachelor and Master degree of Fine Arts in Contemporary Jewellery. Click here for more information, or write directly to info@alchimia.it, to ask for more details.
As you can see (read?), as usual Alchimia’s new year brings some novelty, continuing on its reflexive and flexible premises in relation to contemporaneity and the students’ needs and specificities.
This blog will be back on full activity now so…stay tuned!
Every time there is an exhibition there is a change,
a change of place and a change of country,
different numbers and different names,
different tuning and different agreements,
different materials and different concept .
Those who will wear the jewelry will never be the same, as will the stories of their makers.
What will remain the same is the free spirit, the continuous research, the courage and the desire to create…………
Lucia Massei for 1×1
ABOUT 1×1
1×1 is a project born to promote and diffuse contemporary art jewelry through exhibitions, fairs, and events.
It started in Florence from an idea by Margherita de Martino Norante and Eugenia Ingegno as an open and ever-changing collective of independent jewelry artists.
Artistic and technical research and the freedom of experimentation make the jewelry gain new functions and meanings. 1×1 is open to collaborations inside and outside of the jewelry field to find new ways for showing original works to a wider public.
1×1 changes its shape, leader and location following each project. It is an informal group of people based on active involvement, cooperation and sharing of ideas, knowledge and skills for the common goal of understanding and being understood.
almost ready
For this exhibition at Vander A gallery in Brussels, 1X1 presents 8 international artists, very different from one another, what they have in common is their time at Alchimia.
EunJae Baek, Corea
Sung Ho Cho, Corea
Margherita de Martino Norante, Italy
Marina Elenskaya, Russia
Elinor de Spoelberch, Belgium
Eugenia Ingegno, Italy
Young Bin Park, Corea
Yoko Shimizu, Japan
Declaration of intent of 1X1 Collective:
We want to show the personal approach and research of each artist. We believe that each person’s individuality and autonomy is one of the strengths of contemporary art jewelry and that it gets highlighted through the free dialogue of a collective exposition.
To know more and contact the artists: www.1x1collective.com, www.vanderagallery.be
A dialogue about jewellery.
This time with the young Greek artist and educator Natasha Kandaraki. Natasha graduated from Alchimia in 2010 and has recently opened her school Anamma: anammaseminarsjewelryen.weebly.com in Athens.
Despite the terrible crisis in Greece Natsha’s school is growing and she is currently preparing the first exhibition with her students.
sorry for the text only legible to Greeks but here we got a description in English:
Colour
Exhibition of contemporary jewelry
What is color? Pulse, rhythm, tension, motion. And what else? Feelings, thoughts, memories and images. The color is light and energy, a powerful language without words. Here we are! In our first exhibition, 19 students of the workshop Anamma experimenting with forms, materials and composition, creating jewelry that reflect what the colors revealed to us.
Teaching & Curator: Anastasia Kandaraki
Participants:
Evangelia Demetriou / Xara Kourtali / Xrysa Chatzikonstantidou / Petri Kapetanopoulou / Anastasia Anglopoulou / Mirto Prokopiou / Kuriaki Mastropetrou / Anna Pervolaraki / Eleni Roumbou / Maro Vasiliadou / Daphne Dionisopoulou / Jenny Antonopoulou / Ioanna Alexiou / Amerissa Apokremioti / Katerina Gluka / Elli Glynou / Angelos Konstadakatos / Evi Bormpantonaki / Elizabeth Kollia
Place: Brisaki (Art Space and Action),Brisakiou 17 Plaka, Athens
Opening: June 8, 2012, 8 PM
Duration: 8 -9 -10 June 2012
Hours :: Fri 5pm-10pm, Sat & Sun 11am – 8pm
We wish her and her students a lot of luck !!!
But now let’s go with the interview:
alchimia:
Your father has a jewellery business in Athens and your older sister is a jewellery designer and teacher, so we can say that jewellery is in your DNA. What were the reasons to complete your education at Alchimia, a contemporary jewellery school ?
Natasha:
First of all, I would like to thank you Doris and Lucia for this short interview. It is true that I grew up in a family with jewelry background. I used to see all of these golden jewelry with diamonds and precious stones around me since I was very young. I was always interested in laboratories and the process of creation. I was especially keen in the contemporary approach to the jewelry world. So, I started a research on places where I could learn how to create modern jewelry. At this point I found Alchimia. I loved the work of the school and I finally joined it. I feel very lucky for that and I am grateful to my family for supporting me.
Natasha’s new work: brooch metamorphosis
Alchimia:
You graduated from Alchimia in 2010, can you explain the decision to set up jewellery making courses in your workshop and to expand this even further in the last year ?
Natasha:
The idea of setting up jewelry making courses was in my mind since attending Alchimia. After my graduation I came back to my home city, Athens and realized my dream. So, I set up a workshop and started giving lessons in October of 2011.
My decision came from my passion for contemporary jewelry. I wanted to share this with people and let them know what contemporary jewelry is all about, aiming to expand the contemporary jewelry family.
ring, metamorphosis II
Alchimia:
How difficult was it for you to actually realize your dream of becoming a teacher (you talked about it already when you studied in Alchimia) and opening a school, or better is it more exhausting to think or to do ?
Natasha:
Becoming a teacher made me realize that I love it. At the same time it is a big challenge for me, makes me grow day by day. I also realized that is more exhausting to think than to do. So I just did it and I am very happy for that.
1000 pieces
Alchimia:
Do you think it is a good option for makers and artists like you to try to teach what you have learned besides making your own work ?
Natasha:
Making and teaching are not mutually exclusive. I am teaching what I have learned but at the same time I am learning a lot from my students, and I believe that this will be a big recourse for my next work.
Natasha in her school
Alchimia:
Greece is in the middle of an economic crisis but your little school is working well and it seems that you had not much difficulty to find students. I know you are not an economist but we would really like to know what you think about the reasons of this success.
Natasha:
As you say I am not an economist but I believe that the economic crisis makes culture and art flourish. People are looking for creative activities to help them relax from everyday life. Making jewelry is a creative activity that works like a kind of psychotherapy.
Alchimia:
If you could give an advice for the professional carees to young jewellery makers like you are, what would you tell them ?
Natasha:
To create, to believe ,to support and to spread it!
Thank you for these optimistic and enthusiastic words, I think we all need to hear things like this in the moment.
Good luck to you and your students!!!!!
January : Florence freezing
30 cm of snow in Florence last winter, it was terrible and wonderful at the same time.
Lucia and her husband had to sleep in school, no way to get home.
In February we had our 10th and for now last, Inhorgenta booth.
red, intense, drammatic and passionate as appropriate for a mediterranean school guided by a Professor as Ruudt Peters
March: “Ring, Ringe und nochmals Ringe” at Galerie Mangold in Leipzig
each student and teacher of Alchimia showed 2 rings, the exhibition was supported by the Leipzig bookfair and Larkbooks presented some of their most successful editions regarding rings.
It was a bit difficult to photograph the installation.
opulent borders, Suzanne Beautyman
icecream necklace, Geri Nishi
Several exhibitions in town showed Alchimia graduates: Flora Vagi, Ara Kuo, Malaika Najem, and again Geri Nishi.
