New Traditional Jewellery 2014

Artist list

Eina Ahluwalia, Swetlana Bauer, Velislava Bozhinova, Beatrice Brovia, Sandra Bruil, Tim Carson, Chun-Tai Chen, Yi-Chen Chen, Nicholas Cheng, Soohyun Chou, Teresa Dantas, Paul Derrez, Nicolas Estrada, Hilde Foks, Elisabeth Habig, Stephanie Hensle, Yu Hiraishi, Beru Inou, Gavy Jo, Hayan Kim, Heng Lee, Heng Lee, Po-Tzu Lin, Wen An Liu, Martina Lonča, Emilie Losch, Stefania Lucchetta, Elista Macheva, Josefine Mass, Judy McCaig, Felicia Muelbaier, Carla Nuis, Jiun-You Ou, P. Lynne Philippé, María Eugenia Ramos, Sarah Regensburger, Tove Rygg, Alejandra Solar, Annemiek Steenhuis, Annemiek Steenhuis, Chien-Lin Su, Jie Sun, Birgit Thalau, Demi Thomloudis, Tibimar Ulke, Louisa Vannevel, Pallavi Verma, Verstrepen Vincent

“All human joys and burdens have been materialized in jewellery,” according to art historian Marjan Unger. Jewellery marks every crossroads in our life, every highlight and every loss. If jewellery accompanies us every step of the way, how can we use it to improve our quality of life?

The technical jury of New Traditional Jewellery (NTJ) has selected the theme “Confrontations” for the 2014 design contest and exhibition. Confrontations may carry different meanings: on a grand scale (climate changes, distribution of wealth, waste management, for example) or in a private inner dialogue: there is a lot we are confronted with. Confrontations are often hard to ignore and force you to have an opinion. Some of them may even be life-changing. Confrontations also mean coming to grips with problematic situations, tackling a problem head-on (taking the bull by the horns) and facing the music. It’s a word commonly used in sports, politics, psychology and war. This is by no means a complete inventory of the ways ‘confrontations’ can be understood. We are just scratching the surface; it’s up to you to confront us with your interpretation.  What is confronting to you? What is it you want to confront us with? So here’s the challenge: translate your take on ‘confrontations’ into jewellery design. As in all prior editions of New Traditional Jewellery, we ask contemporary professional jewellery designers to base their design on an inspirational source. This source of inspiration can range from ethnographic jewellery to personal history or current events and trends with relevance to confrontations.

New Traditional Jewellery (NTJ) 2014 : Confrontations

If you want to know what jewellery designers worldwide think about abuse (social or otherwise), conflicts and personal dilemmas, you should not miss the biennial exhibition New Traditional Jewellery (NTJ). The exhibition offers individualistic views and interpretations of the theme, Confrontations. With its wide range coupled with very strong motivations, NTJ proves once again that contemporary jewellery design has something to say.

More than 300 jewellery designers from all parts of the world submitted work for this sixth edition of NTJ. The jury consisting of six persons first selected the pieces for the exhibition, Subsequently, after extensive deliberations, five winners were chosen from this shortlist: two professional artists and three students.

“This exhibition mirrors our times full of trouble spots, ranging from extensive religious wars to geopolitical conflicts, but also the little stories about displaced persons, identity, failure and farewells. The entire range is represented, from the personal intimacy of growing old to social questions such as homophobia. Jewellery designers take a stand, denounce and confront and in doing so implicitly emphasize the human values and behaviour they respect”, says the jury.


JURY about the 5 winners:

Nicholas Cheng (Hong Kong, 1982) and Beatrice Brovia (Italy, 1985).
Brooch, 2014, ZT. Material: optical film, amethyst, gold, tantalum.

From the jury report: “This brooch is about smartphones, small screens that show us the world, but on which we also show ourselves to the world. Smartphones claim a lot of our time, attention and energy. They are also the ‘New Valuable’, containing metals which are bones of contention in geopolitical conflicts. The brooch is simple and minimalistic – a contemporary representation, both reflective and transparent. It is a reflective, confronting piece of jewellery”.

Teresa Dantas (Portugal, 1965)
Necklace, 2014. Title: Phoenix. Material: burned rubber, sand, yarn, silver.

“This necklace refers explicitly to all the trouble spots in the world”, according to the jury. “It evokes associations with fetish and amulet. It literally smells of discontentment. We, members of the jury, have come across a thing or two in the way of use of materials, but this burned rubber has an absolutely confronting quality. It is an expressive, confronting piece of jewellery”

Elitsa Macheva (Bulgaria, 1990), student at the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts.
Necklace, 2014, ZT. Material: bread, gilded steel.

“It is a necklace and a chain”, typifies the jury. “An approach using clichés as the biblical bread which is worth more than diamonds when you have no food; the heavy chains of poverty pressing down on shoulders. It is a very effective and well-executed way to denouce the social problems in Bulgaria”, the jury concludes.

Hayan Kim (Korea, 1987), student Fachhochschule Düsseldorf, Germany.
Brooch 2014. Title: Pictograph. Material: beech wood, lime wood, sycamore wood, steel, silver.

“The piece represents an intrinsic confrontation between irreconcilable cultures: Korea versus Germany and is a personal story about the effect on identity and self-image. To express this she took a fork and some chopsticks as her basis without taking this literally. Kim has created a very intelligent translation, referring to cultural identity being ensured in writing and print”.
 
Alejandra Solar (Mexico-Spain, 1975), student Hochschule Idar-Oberstein, Germany.
Brooch, 2014. Title: Shining Darkness. Material: onyx, graphite, resin, silver.

“A fascinating confrontation of materials: natural and synthetic and the transition of black to transparent, a beautiful composition of forms and command of technique”, it says in the jury report. “An apt abstract representation of opposites. A very poetically worked piece of jewellery; a mature and immensely detailed piece”.

 
BRIDGE

Every edition of NTJ has a theme, determined by the members of a professional jury. Previous subjects were Folklore, Symbols of Faith, Intimacy, True Colors and New Nomads. The NTJ exhibition does not only show the jewellery designs, but also pictures of the sources of inspiration accompanied by a personal explanation of the artist. This unique approach makes NTJ more than just an exhibition of objects: the exhibitions make visitors think and talk about what they see.

 
JURY

The jury consists of the following members (in random order):

Liesbeth Den Besten: Independent art historian, Chair of Françoise van den Bosch Foundation, committee member Art Jewelry Forum, coach Wearable Senses TU/e.
Drs. Fredric Baas, curator Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch Museum for Contemporary Art and Design.
Herman Hermsen, jewellery artist, Professor für Schmuck-und Produktdesign Fachhochschule Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences.
Eveline Holsappel, curator Applied Art and Design, Museum for Modern Art, Arnhem.
Isabella van den Bos, chairwoman Foundation Art in Business.