Remains of the Feast. Contemporary Jewelry and Mixed-media Installation

Artist list

Miruna Belicovici, Anayd Blu, Michaela Caravan, Michaela Ciocalteu, Cleopatra Cosulet, Elena Crisan, Anca Croitoru, Tana Enedi, Andreia G. Popescu, Hemfard Jewellery, Roxana Hodorog, Monica Iacovenco, Grigore Mitrea, Arina Nitulescu, Gabriel Popa, Razvan Popa, Teodora Rus, Luiza Teodorescu, Diana Tobosaru, Gena Tudor, Diana Vasile, Mona Velciov

When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize that one cannot eat money.


The ancient Greek legends tell the story of King Midas, who asks the god Dionis to turn everything he touches into gold. Though delighted at the beginning, the moment he sits at the table, he realizes he could not eat or drink anything, as they all turned gold. According to Artistotel, he regrets his gift and dies of hunger because of his greed for wealth. The legend of Midas is perhaps the most representative metaphor for contemporary society. In a luxurios, golden setting, we discover what we leave behind a "feast" in which we have exhausted all the resources.
 
In a time when fast-fashion has become the world's second polluting industry after the oil industry, when we spend more money on diets than it would be necessary to feed the entire hungry population of the world,  the project raises questions about responsibility and action. 20 designers, visual artists and architects explore the significance and meaning of production materials and techniques and the potential of design for a better world.
 
The exhibition recreates Midas's mythic dinner through an interactive installation where contemporary jewelry reclaims it's active role in observing, criticizing and influencing the social context. The selected collections collections address contemporary issues on pollution, recycling, sustainability and responsibility of humans towards their environment and themselves.
 
Cleopatra Coşuleţ, one of the exhibiting designers, signed a unique collection of jewelry, powered by Carrefour Romania, made 100% of recycled materials such as bottles, pouches, glass, cardboard and electronic waste from SIGUREC recycling plants. Through the SIGUREC project, developed in partnership with the Green Group, started in 2013, Carrefour Romania has collected up to now over 16 million pieces of PET waste, doses and glass, over 900 tons of electrical and electronic waste and 800 tons of cardboard waste, making it one of the most important campaign dedicated to recyling and environmental responsibility in the country.

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Assamblage - The National Association for Contemporary Jewelry was launched in May 2015 during Romanian Design Week, as a result of a 6-year project of sustaining, developing and structuring the emerging field of contemporary jewelry. Assamblage is the main and most active platform in Romania dedicated to the craft and design of jewelry as an independent art form, contributing to the cultural context of the past few years to the increased activity in the field of jewelry in close connection to related fields such as architecture, product design, fashion and visual arts.



Exhibition design: arch. Alexandra Hoinarescu
Multimedia projections signed by: Mediaholic Studio
Display design: Vera Davidescu