Coisa. Future Classic by Cristina Filipe
Published: 20.12.2025
- Author:
- Cristina Filipe
- Edited by:
- Klimt02
- Edited at:
- Barcelona
- Edited on:
- 2025
Pin: Coisa (para se usar presa à roupa), 1991
Iron. Cut out and engraved by hand
4 x 4 x 0.1 cm
Serial number: 01/1000
Photo by: S.A. Fotografias
Numbered and signed
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
In Portugal at least, it has become a classic because it encapsulates many of the issues surrounding the definition of contemporary jewellery, yet it is somehow timeless.
With this series, Klimt02 invite professionals and researchers in contemporary jewellery and art history to reflect on what, in their view, makes a piece a classic. Our intention is to gather insights, almost like collecting data in an ongoing study, so that patterns, resonances, and shared intuitions may gradually emerge.
We began this discussion in this article: How and When a Piece becomes a Classic? Spotlight Artworks by Klimt02
How does a piece become a classic?
In the 1990s, ‘The underlying idea of the end of art, of design, of painting does not dispense with the idea of the end of jewellery. As Isabel Carlos says in her text written for the exhibition Depois de Amanhã [After Tomorrow] at the Centro Cultural de Belém, in 1994, as part of Lisbon’s programme as European Capital of Culture, '‘[the] question of the end [...] in the artistic territory’' was a recurring and unavoidable subject at the end of the 20th century. According to Carlos, ‘'it is the end of painting, it is the end of art, it is the end of the museum, it is the end of history, it is the end of criticism. But then, one continues to paint, to make art, to build museums and to write essays and critiques.
We conclude, then, that the end of these “things” is not something that can be decreed and stipulated’'.
And jewellery continued to be made. In 1999, the exhibition Isto é uma Joia: 20 Anos de Joalharia no Ar.Co [This is a Jewel: 20 Years of Jewellery at Ar.Co] also took up this question at the end of the century. The choice of Cristina Filipe’s piece Coisa (para se usar presa à roupa) [Thing (to be worn attached to clothes)] for the catalogue cover and the phrase Isto é uma jóia for the title of the exhibition highlighted the dispute over what new jewellers produced and what was expected to be jewellery.
Dating from 1991, a multiple edition of the piece made of engraved iron appeared with the intention of affirming only what it was an object to be worn attached to clothes and to answer, ironically and conceptually, the recurrent question posed by the public: ‘but is this jewellery?’
/ Cristina Filipe, 'The 1990s: the day after tomorrow, the question of the end in the artistic territory' In Contemporary Jewellery in Portugal. From the Avant Garde of the 1960s to the Earlier 21st Century, pp. 62, 63.
We conclude, then, that the end of these “things” is not something that can be decreed and stipulated’'.
And jewellery continued to be made. In 1999, the exhibition Isto é uma Joia: 20 Anos de Joalharia no Ar.Co [This is a Jewel: 20 Years of Jewellery at Ar.Co] also took up this question at the end of the century. The choice of Cristina Filipe’s piece Coisa (para se usar presa à roupa) [Thing (to be worn attached to clothes)] for the catalogue cover and the phrase Isto é uma jóia for the title of the exhibition highlighted the dispute over what new jewellers produced and what was expected to be jewellery.
Dating from 1991, a multiple edition of the piece made of engraved iron appeared with the intention of affirming only what it was an object to be worn attached to clothes and to answer, ironically and conceptually, the recurrent question posed by the public: ‘but is this jewellery?’
/ Cristina Filipe, 'The 1990s: the day after tomorrow, the question of the end in the artistic territory' In Contemporary Jewellery in Portugal. From the Avant Garde of the 1960s to the Earlier 21st Century, pp. 62, 63.
I will first give a short account of the historical context of the 'end of art' debate before discussing the creation and reception of my piece Coisa [Thing]. I will finally reflect on what makes a work a classic.
In 1991, the piece ‘Coisa (para se usar presa à roupa)’ ['Thing (to be worn attached to clothes)'], an iron square measuring 4 x 4 cm engraved with the phrase 'This is a Jewel', offered a minimal and concrete statement and showed the need to make it clear that a piece of jewellery is entitled to be called jewellery if the author so decides. This piece summarised the problem of how to define contemporary jewellery. This certainly underlined the need for a clear answer to the question repeatedly asked by the public: 'Is this jewellery?'.
This was particularly pertinent given the proliferation of jewellery produced by emerging contemporary artists in Europe and North America from the 1960s onwards. These artists were in tune with the changes taking place in the arts and society during that period. Their work surprised with its unexpected proposals, conquering new territories in an expanded field and leaving the public wondering, ‘But is this still jewellery?'.
Manuel Castro Caldas, art historian and the executive director of Ar.Co – Centro de Arte e Comunicação Visual, in Lisbon, since 1994, wrote about this subject in ‘The New Ornamented Body’, published in the catalogue for the 1999 exhibition Isto é uma Joia: 20 Anos de Joalharia no Ar.Co [This is a Jewel: 20 Years of Jewellery at Ar.Co]. This piece is featured on the cover of the catalogue.
In 1991, the piece ‘Coisa (para se usar presa à roupa)’ ['Thing (to be worn attached to clothes)'], an iron square measuring 4 x 4 cm engraved with the phrase 'This is a Jewel', offered a minimal and concrete statement and showed the need to make it clear that a piece of jewellery is entitled to be called jewellery if the author so decides. This piece summarised the problem of how to define contemporary jewellery. This certainly underlined the need for a clear answer to the question repeatedly asked by the public: 'Is this jewellery?'.
This was particularly pertinent given the proliferation of jewellery produced by emerging contemporary artists in Europe and North America from the 1960s onwards. These artists were in tune with the changes taking place in the arts and society during that period. Their work surprised with its unexpected proposals, conquering new territories in an expanded field and leaving the public wondering, ‘But is this still jewellery?'.
Manuel Castro Caldas, art historian and the executive director of Ar.Co – Centro de Arte e Comunicação Visual, in Lisbon, since 1994, wrote about this subject in ‘The New Ornamented Body’, published in the catalogue for the 1999 exhibition Isto é uma Joia: 20 Anos de Joalharia no Ar.Co [This is a Jewel: 20 Years of Jewellery at Ar.Co]. This piece is featured on the cover of the catalogue.
Although the question ‘what (after all) is a jewel?' is asked
in the context of a dissolution of the importance of ‘local’ codes of traditional symbolism used for the decoration of the body, it is nonetheless accompanied by a growing interest in the reinvention of the protocols of the same ornamented body. What we nowadays call a jewel goes far beyond what might be covered by the traditions (which until recently had proved very effective) for signalling one’s social status, class, age or attitude in relation to organised society.
(Caldas, 1999)
in the context of a dissolution of the importance of ‘local’ codes of traditional symbolism used for the decoration of the body, it is nonetheless accompanied by a growing interest in the reinvention of the protocols of the same ornamented body. What we nowadays call a jewel goes far beyond what might be covered by the traditions (which until recently had proved very effective) for signalling one’s social status, class, age or attitude in relation to organised society.
(Caldas, 1999)
This shows how public perception and this ongoing debate contribute to a work's classic status, suggesting that a classic is not just defined by its form but by its capacity to provoke dialogue over time.
Cristina Filipe. Coisa (para se usar presa à roupa), 1991. Edition of #1000. Iron. Cut out and engraved by hand. Numbered and signed.
Photo: Detail of the cover of the exhibition catalogue Isto é uma Joia: 20 Anos de Joalharia no Ar.Co, 1999.
Photo: Detail of the cover of the exhibition catalogue Isto é uma Joia: 20 Anos de Joalharia no Ar.Co, 1999.
Between 1991 and 2001, I made only around 350 iron pieces from an initially planned edition of 1,000 due to health issues and my awareness of how harmful the production process was for me and the world. All of them were sold, apart from some imperfect ones that remain in my archive.
Both editions feature an English version of the same piece, and I also produced the first edition in French in 2017.
For the second Portuguese edition of my book, Joalharia Contemporânea em Portugal. Das Vanguardas de 1960 ao Ínicio do Século XXI, due to be published in 2023, I decided to create a special edition comprising the book and three variations (Portuguese, English and French) in a more luxury format. In the book, the piece is presented on the body of Catarina Vaz Pinto, who was the Councilwoman for Culture at the time. Years ago, I met her occasionally at the opening of a Rui Chafes exhibition, where she was wearing the first edition of the piece. I therefore asked her to be photographed for my book, and she agreed.
A year ago, I created another version of the same piece to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Galeria Reverso. The anniversary theme was orange, green, pink and purple, and I decided to incorporate colour for the first time. This is again a limited edition and comes in a Portuguese, English or French version inside a box together with the book.
Recently, the art collector Miguel Mesquita Guimarães bought one of my first editions. He had been asking me for one for a few years, but I had resisted because I only had some imperfect pieces from that edition and had no idea what price to ask for it. After consulting a few people, including VERITAS Art Auctioneers, I decided to ask the same original price plus 1 euro per edition number. It was the first time in many years that I had sold a first-edition piece, and I realised how important it was to an art collector.
When you ask me now: 'How does a piece become a classic?', I immediately think of this piece, though I hope this doesn’t seem presumptuous. In Portugal, at least, it has become a classic because it encapsulates many of the issues surrounding the definition of contemporary jewellery, yet it is somehow timeless. I regularly see people using it in different contexts and for different reasons, but I believe the main message often remains hidden.
Coisa is an object that states and announces its own status, sparing us the anguish
of distinctive classifications – work of art? object? jewellery? thing? piece? — and making an eloquent practical demonstration of nominalist philosophy — the only possible philosophy for contemporary aesthetics – and also, incidentally, an exemplary demonstration of the tautological vertigo that characterizes
conceptual art. In a title, one cannot ask for more.
(Alexandre Melo, 1999)
of distinctive classifications – work of art? object? jewellery? thing? piece? — and making an eloquent practical demonstration of nominalist philosophy — the only possible philosophy for contemporary aesthetics – and also, incidentally, an exemplary demonstration of the tautological vertigo that characterizes
conceptual art. In a title, one cannot ask for more.
(Alexandre Melo, 1999)
As an artist and researcher, I am curious to see how this piece is viewed on the international stage. I feel it never had the same impact abroad as it did in Portugal, so I wonder: can a contemporary jewellery piece be a classic in just one country? I believe this piece transcends borders, which is why I created it in other languages too. Perhaps it arrived too late abroad. When I created it in 1991, it had a very strong impact in Portugal — everybody remembers it and wants to own one. In my view, it is still fulfilling its mission. However, it is undoubtedly a product of the 1990s, which is why, 35 years after its creation, I now see it as a classic, vintage piece — or however one may prefer to call it.
/ Cristina Filipe
November 2025
References:
Manuel Castro Caldas (1999), 'The New Ornamented Body' in Isto É Uma Jóia. 20 Years of Jewellery in Ar.Co, Ar.Co, FRESS, pp. 11, 15.
Cristina Filipe (2019), “The 1990s: the day after tomorrow, the question of the end in the artistic territory” In Contemporary Jewellery in Portugal. From the Avant Garde of the 1960s to the Earlier 21st Century. Author, MUDE — Design Museum, Arnoldsche Art Publishers, pp. 62, 63.
Alexandre Melo (1999), 'São jóias Senhor' in Vida Artística, Expresso Newspaper.
Why Future Classics?
Our aim is not to define academic criteria or impose any form of conservatism, but to collect subjective perspectives that help us understand the values and expectations shaping our field, without reducing them to fixed rules or hierarchies.
By sharing these voices, we invite you to think together and open a conversation about durability, relevance, and the ways particular works contain certain patterns or enigmas that make them continue to speak over time.
About the author
Dr. Cristina Filipe (Lisbon, 1965) lives and works in Lisbon. She has a PhD in Heritage Studies from the Catholic University of Porto — School of Arts (2018) and is a researcher at the Centre for Research in Science and Technology of the Arts (CITAR) at the same school. She has a Master’s degree in Arts and Design from the Surrey Institute of Art & Design (2001), having been awarded grants from the Foundation for Science and Technology and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, respectively.She studied jewellery at Ar.Co — Centro de Arte e Comunicação Visual (1984-1987), Gerrit Rietveld Academie (1987-1988), and the Royal College of Arts (1992). She taught on the jewellery course at Ar.Co (1989-2015), which she directed between 2004 and 2015, and at ESAD — Escola Superior de Artes e Design, Matosinhos (2001-2007). Since 1998, she has been a guest artist, lecturer and educator at several international schools and has overseen several master’s and doctoral theses. She received the Susan Beech Mid-Career Artist Grant from the Art Jewelry Forum (2017) for the book Contemporary Jewellery in Portugal. From the Avant-Garde of the 1960s to the Early 21st Century (2019), with forewords by Gonçalo de Vasconcelos e Sousa (1st edition) and Laura Castro (2nd edition), and English version distributed by Arnoldsche Art Publishers.
She has exhibited internationally since 1984. Since 2005, she has been an independent programmer and curator of exhibitions, symposia, and colloquia. She founded and was president of the board of PIN — Associação Portuguesa de Joalharia Contemporânea (2004-2023). She was the creator and general curator of the 1st Lisbon Contemporary Jewellery Biennial — Cold Sweat (2021). She is the author of several articles and essays, editorial and scientific coordinator of the book Cold Sweat (2022), and creator and scientific coordinator of INCM’s collection ‘J’.
- Author:
- Cristina Filipe
- Edited by:
- Klimt02
- Edited at:
- Barcelona
- Edited on:
- 2025
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