The Handshake Project / Israel - Local Boundaries

Artist list

Vered Babai, Batami Bentor, Michal Caspi, Dania Chelminsky, Adi Farber, Yael Friedman, Noga Hadad, Naama Haneman, Eden Herman Rosenbloom, Ariel Lavian, Tamar Paley, Shir Pins, Sara Shahak, Noa Tamir

Peter Deckers, the founder and art director created the Handshake Project (held since 2011 in New Zealand) as a framework for a new form of the encounter between an established jeweler and a younger one. The project aims to support the specific needs of the young jeweler or fresh graduate and facilitates an association between the young person and a seasoned artist whom the first chooses through acquaintance via media, exhibitions, and contemporary writings in the field. The structure supports continuous creative work and offers two years of learning and guidance beyond the academic setting, with a broad, international horizon.

HSP brings together learning and exhibition processes with practice and networking. The digital meeting format allows communication across borders and vast distances. While digital media limits the tactile experience familiar in the academic setting, it enhances verbal and narrative exposition. Over the years, the project has developed into a research platform that explores the place of contemporary jewelry in the fields of craft, art, and design. In the 21st century, as the lines between art and design as well as between design and craft are fading fast, the field of contemporary jewelry is still in the process of defining itself.

In the past, the craft was studied by focusing on material traditions, techniques, and skills specific to each field. Craft can be seen from several perspectives, such as an ideological movement that opposes industrialization and globalization, a form of communication, or a technical form of expertise. Most of the discourse on craft deals with materiality, making and implementation. This discourse grants materiality central importance. According to Deckers, creativity depends on knowledge and understanding of the materials used, familiarity with the tools and the personal capabilities of the artist. Lisa Walker, a contemporary jeweler, sees the history of materials as part of their inherent qualities. She relates to knowledge of jewelry-making and materials as an inspiration for new and different approaches beyond the traditions. Tim Ingold, chair of the Anthropology Department at the University of Aberdeen, studies technology, skilled practice, and creativity. He sees the creative process as personal growth. He argues that the creative maker is part of a world of active, developing materials and that dialogue with these materials is inherent to the work process.

Today, methodological approaches to craft as a field and to contemporary jewelry in particular, are varied and do not place limits on the relationship to materials or working methods. As a result, the jewelry maker’s table has become a dynamic work stand for myriad materials, from industrial waste, textile and plastics through mixtures of cheap and noble metals to diamonds and gems. This broad range requires continuous learning and a thorough understanding of a variety of materials. Such ongoing crossing of boundaries can be seen as a dynamism that permits the breadth of projects in the field. From a jewelry piece meant as a critique or social message, through jewels to be worn and exhibited and up to projects that engage with the discourse in the field itself. In addition, there is a special and unique set of relations evolving between the work on the piece, the jewelry piece itself, and the person who wears it. 

In the book Contemporary Jewelry in Context, a Handshake Blueprint, edited by Deckers, he surveys the Handshake Project from 2011-2017. The book reviews diverse articles dealing with education, making, curating, exhibitions, and cooperative projects, written by theoreticians of the field. The article on “making” was written by Liesbeth den Besten, an art historian specializing in contemporary jewelry. In this article, she discusses the isolation inherent to the jewel maker’s studio and the geographical segregation of New Zealand’s jewelry makers. The latter was able to enhance communications among themselves and the international community via the Handshake Project.

There are some lines of similarity between the contemporary jewelry communities in New Zealand and Israel. Most events bringing together the community of contemporary jewelry-makers take place in Europe. While Israel is closer to Europe, it suffers from geographical isolation and is not part of the EU.

The Israeli Handshake Project is somewhat different from the New Zealand version. Handshake Israel is designed to create cooperation, active dialogue, and a multi-generational work process that connects veteran artists and young ones. The premise is that working side by side generates a bi-directional learning process.
Cooperation between artists can limit an independent creator accustomed to working alone through most of his work process. Therefore, the first step in the collaborative process is agreeing on a structure of exchange that gives each participant space and promotes productivity in an unfamiliar situation. Fourteen local jewelers were selected for this project and divided into seven pairs. Each pair designed its working process and communication practice.

In February 2020, two months after the project was launched, a world epidemic broke out and changed local and international borders everywhere. Face-to-face meetings were no longer an option, and digital communication became vital. The project went digital. The Handshake continued throughout the epidemic, a challenging period that subverted familiar arrangements. It called for adaptability, patience, and hopefulness. The isolation experienced by many was a bit dissolved through meetings between pairs of artists and the group. A year later, this process is coming to its conclusion with the exhibition at the Israel Geological Museum, Ramat Hasharon.

Opening day: Friday, July 16 from 11:00. 
Opening hours:
Sunday-Thursday: 08:30- 13:00
Wednesday: 16:00-18:00
Friday-Saturday: 10:00-13:00