29 may -1 June 2025
Haxthäuserhof Jewellery Symposium
TOOLS FOR DESIRE
curated by Sophie Hanagarth and matt lambert
Registration open!
Tools for Desire.
Desire is a word describing a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen. Together we meet to wander in our stories and narratives of why we make and what it is we desire, and dream. So often when we present there is a locating of the object as the work. But what if we reposition the work as a material or a tool? Material or tool as something metaphorical, physical, and as concepts to think with. What then do these tools do? What do they make or why have they been made? Together we meet to explore broader contexts and to unpack motivations, drives and desires and what role the objects we make play on our individual paths that we could call the work.
Tools for Desire, brings together a constellation of beings connected by having practices that grapple with the relationship of body and object. Motivated by the desire to build kinship, we tend a space to share what paths we create when wandering with desire, creating faint marks on the earth of where we and others have been. Gathering together a constellation of invited presenters and an open invitation to attend a collective is formed. We have and will together cross borders of geography, histories, languages and perspectives. Meeting for a brief privileged moment we wander together. In wandering we may arrive at the same place, and together we share how we got here and where we want to go. Going beyond the formalities of lecture presentations, to speak with each other and share our paths over meals, coffee breaks and dancing. A space and time to glean from each other's stories.
Sophie Hanagarth and matt lambert
Programm curators
Programm - Overview
(speaking times may be subject to changes)
Thursday 29 May
12.30 Registration, hello & welcome drink
14.00 Welcome & introduction by Sophie Hanagarth and matt lambert
15.00 Regine Juhls by Sunniva Juhls (Sápmi/Norway)
- Coffee
17.30 The Evolution of Art Galleries and Contemporary Jewelry Design in Iran by Aria Eghbal (Iran)
- Book sale by Arnoldsche
- Dinner
Friday 30 May
- Breakfast
10.00 The materiality of desire: jewellery in pop culture by Elisabeth Fischer (Switzerland/Canada)
11.30 Inbetweenings and desirable beyonds by Anders Ljungberg (Sweden)
- Lunch
14.30 three student/doktorand lectures
1) Tools for Fulfilment: Resonance in the Practices of Food & Jewellery by Kristina Neuman
2) A Touch of Skin by Zoé Kiner-Wolff
3) Art Jewelry in Iran by Roohollah Shamsizadeh Maleki
- Coffee
17.00 Renewable Pleasures by Esther Brinkmann (Switzerland)
- Dinner
20.00 Schmucktisch
Saturday 31 May
- Breakfast
10.00 Mise-en-scène—Wearing and Playing by Yuka Oyama (Germany)
11.30 Forging Connections: Sámi Heritage, Materials, and Stories by Janne Peltokangas (Sápmi/Finland)
- Lunch
14.30 Entanglements in Practice: Reflecting on Artistic Research by Daniel Ramos Obregón (Colombia)
- Coffee
16.30 Pūrākau - storytelling by Neke Moa (Aotearoa/New Zealand)
- Dinner
Sunday 1 June
- Breakfast
10.00 Only jewellery ou les ritournelles de Monika Brugger by Monika Brugger (German/France)
11.30 Fanodu by Chequita Nahar (Netherlands)
- Closing, Lunch & Bye-byes
Programm - Details, Bio, Works
Thursday 29 May
12.30 Registration and reception
14.00 Welcome and Introduction by Sophie Hanagarth and matt lambert
15.00 Juhls
Regine Juhls presented by Sunniva Juhls
Regine Juhls (1939) was born in what is now Poland, formerly East Prussia. She grew up as a refugee in Germany, without a sense of belonging... At the age of 17, she had to leave – her sense of belonging to life was found in Kautokeino, far to the north, in a Sámi community. She found something eternal and timeless in the nomadic life of the Sámi – she found her sense of belonging in nature, in the tundra.
"To walk barefoot on the Arctic crust, to observe the tiny, almost invisible plants in their budding diversity, to sense the act of touching the untouched, to grasp the grandeur of a boundless landscape... The condition for making these pieces of jewelry is to live one's own uniqueness without the pressure of the trends of the times." -Regine Juhls
Regine Juhls began exploring the possibilities of silver for creative expression in the early 1960s, with curiosity and a sense of craftsmanship. The Tundra collection is an abstract and personal work shaped by the longing that emerges during the long winter months – the longing for that brief time of year when the tundra blooms. During this time, Regine achieves an intimate connection with plants and life, something she feels is absolutely essential, and the collection continues to grow in accordance with her inspiration. Her creations are timeless, as nature is.
When you live in Sápmi, immersed in the unique Sámi way of life, does what you create naturally reflect that distinct Sámi identity? Or is it the very essence of the Sámi way – nature itself – that serves as the foundation, the force that inspires and gives life to your work? And if so, is this acknowledged by others?
Juhls
Geography/nationality: Sápmi / Norway
links
IG: @juhlssilvergallery
BIO
Since 1959, Juhls’ Silversmith has been located in Kautokeino on the Finnmarksvidda, the first workshop for silver jewelry in Finnmark. Over the years, it has developed into a unique space, shaped by a deep desire to create beauty and a passion for craftsmanship. Perched on a hill overlooking the Kautokeino River, the workshop reflects Regine Juhls' vision.Alongside her late husband Frank, Regine made jewelry-making their focus, blending Sámi traditions with modern design. The pieces are still crafted entirely in Kautokeino, ensuring sustainable and ethical production that honors both the environment and the local community. Regine’s connection to Kautokeino and its people runs deep. She came to experience the tough, real life of the region, and over time, her work evolved, deeply influenced by the land and the Sámi culture. Today, the workshop continues to grow, with each new addition reflecting Regine’s enduring creativity and commitment to her craft. Even after Frank's passing in 2020, Regine remains dedicated to her work. The gallery continues to showcase her timeless pieces, a living testament to her connection with the land and her passion for creating jewelry that transcends time.
Photo © Andreas Ausland
Brooch Silver 925S, Rose quartz
Photo © Andreas Ausland
Sunniva Juhls
Photo © Andreas Ausland
- Coffee break
17.30 Aria Eghbal
The Evolution of Art Galleries and Contemporary Jewelry Design in Iran
Despite Iran’s rich history of painting, design, and jewelry-making, the country’s first modern art gallery was established in 1949. By 1979, prior to the revolution, fewer than ten galleries were active, and following the revolution, gallery activities were suspended for several years.
Aria Gallery became the third active gallery in Iran, while Aria Art Academy emerged as the first alternative art education center established after the revolution. Our professional focus on jewelry design began 20 years ago under the guidance of Parviz Tanavoli, the internationally renowned artist. About eight years ago, in collaboration with sculptor and jeweler Rouhollah Shamsizadeh, we launched a continuous and professional program dedicated to the education and exhibition of contemporary jewelry.
In this symposium, I will discuss the founding and evolution of Aria Gallery and Aria Art Academy, their impact on art education and exhibitions, and their role in shaping the contemporary jewelry market in Iran and internationally.
Aria Eghbal
Pronoun: She/Her
Geography/nationality: Iran-Tehran
links
@ariaart.gallery
@ariaeghbal1
BIO
Aria Eghbal, born in 1962 in Tehran, is a prominent figure in the Iranian art scene. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in painting, launching his professional career immediately upon graduation. In 1992, Eghbal founded Aria Gallery, a landmark space that has been instrumental in promoting contemporary Iranian art. Her passion for fostering creativity led to the establishment of the Alternative School of Art in 2002, where he pioneered innovative methods of art education.
Eghbal has held four solo exhibitions and participated in over 50 group exhibitions across Iran, Europe, the United States, China, and the UAE, showcasing her unique artistic vision to international audiences. In addition to her artistic endeavors, she has authored numerous articles on modern and contemporary Iranian art and has delivered lectures on alternative art education, highlighting its role in nurturing creative expression.
A key member of the Iranian Painters Association, Eghbal also serves on the Board of Directors at the Iranian Galleries Association and is an integral part of the Organizing Committee for the Iran Art Expo. She is a founding member of the Dena Art Group, further contributing to the advancement of Iran’s dynamic art community.
photo © Michiel Heffels
Ari Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
- Dinner
Friday 30 May
- Breakfast
10.00 Elisabeth Fischer
The materiality of desire: jewellery in pop culture
Jewellery has a strong presence in movies and pop songs. It embodies desire both
in its materiality and symbolism. Charting the shifting cultural and social values
of human relationship, it manifests desire in seen and unseen ways. Some are
understandable only to those in the know in a given social community at a given
time, others are broadly adopted by society in general, as traditional markers of
the various links that make up the social fabric.
Elizabeth Fischer
Pronoun: she / her
Geography/nationality: Canadian, Swiss
links
https://www.hesge.ch/head/annuaire/elizabeth-fischer
@lizafishe
BIO
Elizabeth Fischer is associate professor HES-SO in the cultural history of dress and fashion at the University of Art and Design HEAD – Genève (Switzerland). She was dean of the Jewellery and accessory design department from 2009 to 2021, including Fashion design from 2015. She contributed to the opening of the MA in Fashion and Accessory design at HEAD as well as the Chair in Watch Design. Holder of an MA in art history, she specializes in the meaning of dress, textiles and jewellery in painting and photography. Her current research, led in partnership with Magali Le Mens, PhD (University of Rennes 2), focusses on the subversion of binary gender codes in Western dress from 1850 to today. She has collaborated with museums and universities for over 25 years in Switzerland and internationally and published numerous essays in French and English. She is a member of the scientific board of MuMode, the Swiss Fashion Museum in Yverdon.
Photo © Isabelle Meister
Publication
(https://arodes.hes-so.ch/record/10001?ln=en&v=pdf)
11.30 Anders Ljungberg
Inbetweenings and desirable beyonds
A thing manifests and is becoming in the encounter with other things, materials, bodies and spaces. In this lecture I will discuss how flows between space, body and things constantly create new conditions for each other and question the distinctions that underlie the definition of these phenomenon as separated. In a critical reflection upon these distinctions exposes a desire to understand ourselves as part of a movement beyond the isolated definitions of body, material and object that characterize our rationally oriented contemporary.
Anders Ljungberg
Pronoun: He/Him
Geography/nationality: Swedish
links
@aeljungberg
BIO
Anders Ljungberg has exhibited, lectured and been a guest teacher around the world, while being based in Gustavsberg, Sweden where he both lives and has his studio. One of his main topics, which can clearly be seen in his practice, is the relationship between human, object and space in which he examines emotional, metaphorical and poetic understandings of everyday use. He is represented by Marzee in The Netherlands, Galerie Rosemarie Jäger and Ornamentum Galley in Germany and exhibits frequently in other contexts worldwide. Anders Ljungberg is represented at Marzee collection in Nijmegen, National museum in Stockholm, Röhsska in Gothenburg, National museum in Oslo, Nordiska in Stockholm and the Royal collection in Stockholm. At Konstfack, he was first a student between 1989 and 1994, returning as a Senior Lecturer between 2000 and 2010. From 2016 he is Professor at the Jewellery and Corpus CRAFT! Programme at Konstfack. Between 2014-2016 he also worked as professor at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Metal and Jewellery Art.
Photo © Maja Witt
Title: Panic #4
Material: Silver
Date: 2022
Photo © Anders Ljungberg
- Lunch
14.30 three student/doktorand lectures
1) Kristina Neuman
Tools for Fulfilment: Resonance in the Practices of Food & Jewellery
This lecture examines the interplay between jewellery, materiality, cooking and urban landscapes, examining how wearable objects foster symbolic connections to past, present, and future. Drawing on Hartmut Rosa’s resonance theory, this research explores how jewellery creates emotional, cultural, and sensory engagement. By considering the different acts of making, we uncover how jewellery serves as a medium for connection in an increasingly alienated world.
Kristina Neumann
Pronoun: She/Her
Geography/nationality: Australian/Chinese | Germany
links
BIO
Kristina Neumann’s practice examines the relationship between jewellery, its materiality, and the landscapes of the wearer’s context, in particular urban environments. Through symbolic exploration of materiality, architectural features, and references to internal and external spaces, Neumann illustrates the potentiality of wearable objects to offer their wearer a kind of symbolic and good. Her miniature sculptural forms elicit emotional responses, nostalgias, reactions and interactions which simultaneously conjure relationships to past, present and perhaps even future
Kristina Neumann is an emerging artist & designer/maker currently living and working in Germany. Her work has been recognised through a number of awards and prizes, including the Talente 2020: International Craft Exhibition Prize at the Handwerkskammer in Munich, Germany; the Toowoomba Regional Gallery Contemporary Wearables Emerging Artist Prize, and the CAPO Robert Foster Memorial Award. She graduated from the Australian National University, School of Art, Jewellery & Object Workshop with first class honours in 2019. She is currently undertaking a Masters of Fine Art in Gemstones & Jewellery at Trier University of Applied Sciences, Idar-Oberstein, Germany.
Photo © Claire Normand
Title: Boxed Sill
Material: 925 silver, Canberra red brick, polymerclay glue, stainless steel
Date: 2019
Photo © Simon Cottrell
2) Zoé Kiner-Wolff
A Touch of Skin
My artistic work focuses on the body and appearance, exploring the transformative potential of jewellery and ornament. I create jewellery, mask, costume or object that expresse this desire to transform my own body by wearing an other skin. Fur, skin, shells, hair and feathers appeal to me, I want to touch and feel them.
With my jewellery, I hope changing both the senses of perception and the appearance of the wearer. Wearing a mask is a way of fulfilling that dream of becoming something else and to see with other eyes.
Zoé Kiner-Wolff
Pronoun: She/They
Geography/nationality: France
links
@zo_kinerwolff
BIO
I am an artist and performer, formed at the jewelry studio of the HEAR (Strasbourg). I make masks and costumes with traditional goldsmith techniques that I blend with the skills of leather and feathers. My work is about metamorphosis by transforming body with jewellery, ornament and costumes to explore plural identities.
I am currently conducting PhD research in art history at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne on “Body jewelry since the 1970s in Europe”. I focus my research on the “new physicalness” of jewellery as art in the work of artists who use the jewel as artistic medium by questioning its relationship to the body and to wearability. This approach shifts the experience of wearing a jewel, which is no longer a daily accessory focusing on the making of jewelry for spectacular scenes : such as exhibition, performance, photo and video, music scene or catwalk podium.
Zoé Kiner-Wolff, Pierrot lunaire, 2022, silver, mother-of-pearl
Photo © Adrien Berthet
title: Madame Butterfly
material: silver, butterfly wings
date: 2020-2024
Photo © Bruno Thiévet
3) Roohollah Shamsizadeh Maleki
Art Jewelry in Iran
Jewelry making has always been of interest to visual artists in Iran. In the pre-modern era, Iranian artists, in addition to practicing visual arts, were also active in various craft (handicraft) fields. For example, a painter might also create jewelry. In the modern period, Iranian visual artists, influenced by both traditional teachings and modern Western art, engaged in applied arts and jewelry making alongside their visual works. Many of these pieces are connected to the artists' paintings and sculptures. This pattern continues to be used by artists in the contemporary era. Most contemporary jewelers in Iran utilize the capabilities of visual arts and the interdisciplinary possibilities of contemporary art in their jewelry making.
In this lecture, by introducing some artists and examples of their jewelry works, we will examine the relationship between jewelry and the visual works (sculptures and paintings) of these artists, and how they use the context of the body to present their works. These pieces not only pay attention to the genres and applications of jewelry but also focus on conceptual and semantic aspects. This examination includes a brief historical overview and a focus on the recent works of contemporary Iranian jewelers.
At the Aria Gallery, given its focus on visual arts, we place significant emphasis on both education and exhibition, as well as introducing artists who, in their jewelry works, pay attention to formal, spatial, and conceptual values, as well as the broader elements of contemporary art.
Roohollah Shamsizadeh Maleki
Pronoun: he
Geography/nationality: Iran
links
@r.shamsizadeh
BIO
Roohollah Shamsizadeh Maleki, born in 1978 in Malekan, Iran, is a distinguished sculptor and interdisciplinary artist. He is a PhD Art Research at Tehran University, building upon his prior academic achievements, including a Master of Arts in painting from the Fine Art College at Tehran University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in sculpture from the Art University of Tehran. Maleki’s academic journey has been complemented by a wealth of teaching experience. Notably, he has contributed to the academic landscape as a faculty member at the Art University of Tehran from 2012 to 2024 and at the Art College of Urmia University from 2007 to 2012.
At the core of Maleki’s professional engagement lies his active involvement in the art world. He has been a key figure in numerous exhibitions and artistic organizations. Maleki served as a jury member of the Tehran Contemporary Art Jewelry at Aria Gallery in Tehran for several years, demonstrating his commitment to fostering contemporary art movements. His international affiliations include membership at la Maison des Artistes at cité internationale des arts in Paris. Moreover, Maleki has exhibited his work globally, with notable showcases in Germany and France, underlining the international reach of his artistic endeavours.
Roohollah shamsizadeh Maleki’s multifaceted contributions to the arts, spanning from his academic pursuits to his active participation in the global art scene, underscore his enduring impact as an artist and educator.
Title: unholy geometry
Material: Iron, Cast resin composite and soot (carbon pigment)
Brooch
11*7*3 cm
Date:2023
Photo © Roohollah Shamsizadeh Maleki
- Coffee break
17.00 Esther Brinkmann
Renewable Pleasures
Making things drives me through my life and makes it more interesting to meet other humans, to experience other cultures, to enjoy the solitude at my studio.
The jewellery I make offer a specific relationship to the body. The wearers choose objects which will widen their perceptions and stimulate their spirit. The jewellery they adopt and wear give others a sense of their personality. It acts as a bridge between the very intimate, the personal space and the public. It allows questions and emotions and it fulfills our need for beauty and recognition.
Esther Brinkmann
Pronoun: Her
Geography/nationality: Switzerland, Swiss
links
@Esther.Brinkmann
BIO
EB got a diploma as a jeweller at école des Arts décoratifs in Geneva in 1978. Soon after she started with her own studio and participated since then in numerous group exhibitions in galleries and museums. Regularly, she showed her work in solo exhibitions in Europe, China and India.
In 1987 she founded in Geneva at the University for Art and Design (HEAD) the jewellery department. She was its head till 2005 when she left Switzerland to live in China and then in India for 9 years.
EB has an extensive experience in lecturing and masterclasses, in Europe and Asia. A monograph on her work has been published in 2022 by Arnoldsche, editor in Stuttgart. Her work is to be found in private and public collections.
Photo © Yi Bing
Title: Brooch
Material: subfossil oak, copper
Date: 2024
Photo © Esther Brinkmann
- Dinner
- “Schmucktisch” (everyone brings a piece/ small collection of pieces to put on the table, tp create a together-exhibiton)
Saturday 31 May
- Breakfast
10.00 Yuka Oyama
Mise-en-scène—Wearing and Playing
When jewellery and adornments are worn, certain shifts take place in the wearers’ mind. Individuals feel and behave differently, while the worn elements can also shape their body and guide body motions. I am interested in how the act of wearing can foster playfulness. My artistic practice is to set the whole stage, which includes selecting actors, designing scenography, building costumes (wearable sculptures) and props. I then construct basic structures, so that performers can engage in improvisational play. Consequently, I convey stories about the sense of self, home and belonging. In my talk, I will unpack how jewellery and wearable sculptures can serve as tools to evoke affordances in the wearers, which encourage them to perform. There will also be a small workshop in my presentation.
Yuka Oyama
Pronoun (he/her/they..etc): She/her
Geography/nationality: Based in Berlin and Halle. A German citizen previously a Japanese citizen.
links
@studioyukaoyama
BIO
Yuka Oyama’s artistic practice encompasses wearable sculptures, jewellery, public interventions and performance. Yuka explores the implications of worn personal items for the (re)construction of individual identities. She examines how things that people carry with them for years become part of their extended self, as well as tools to create an alternative, continuous home, especially for those who live nomadic lives. She employs methods of field research such as object-based interviews and experimental performances with human-thing hybrid costumes.
Oyama studied jewellery and light metals at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence (USA), Jewellery at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich under Prof. Otto Künzli, and Fine Art under Prof. Asta Gröting. She received her doctorate in artistic research at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts in Norway in 2017 with the title The Stubborn Life of Objects (2012-2017). In the artistic research, she investigated how personal objects carry imagined, active, and dynamic inner forces and how these can be made accessible through worn sculptures. Since 2003, Oyama’s work has been presented in numerous international exhibitions, including the Marta Herford Museum, The Dowse Art Museum in Wellington (New Zealand), the Pratt Manhattan Gallery in New York, the SPACES Gallery in Cleveland, the Bellerive Museum in Zurich and the House of World Cultures in Berlin. She leads Jewellery and Sculpture at Burg Giebichenstein Academy of Art and Design Halle.
Photo © Thomas Kierok
Title: Collectors - Moon Shelves
Material: Sponge, textile
Date: 2015
Photo © Becky Yee
11.30 Janne Peltokangas
Forging Connections: Sámi Heritage, Materials, and Stories
I explore how my Sámi heritage, mythology, and the landscapes of Lapland shape my work as an artist and blacksmith. Through the lens of sustainability and animism, I reveal how I transform salvaged metal into sculptural objects that carry stories of identity, memory, and nature. This talk delves into the intersection of tradition and innovation, highlighting the ways art can bridge past and present while inspiring deeper connections to culture and environment.
Janne Peltokangas
Pronoun: He
Geography/nationality: Sápmi / Finland
links
IG @jannepeltokangas
FB @jannepeltokangasart
BIO
Janne Peltokangas (b. 1979) is a Sámi artist and blacksmith known for combining traditional blacksmithing techniques with contemporary art forms. Since 2005, he has explored the intersection of craftsmanship and Sámi aesthetics, reflecting his heritage and paying homage to his cultural roots. For the first ten years of his career, Peltokangas worked as an architectural blacksmith before shifting his focus in 2015 to pursue art full-time. His work often investigates the Sámi spiritual connection to nature, raising questions about the presence of spirit within handmade objects and the expressive potential of materials
Peltokangas’ creations are characterized by their rough yet sensitive nature, mirroring the flora and fauna of northern Finland. His art has been exhibited across Europe, North America, and China in prominent galleries, museums, and Biennales. He has also collaborated with renowned artists like Eva Hild and Rick Smith. Over the years, his work has earned him multiple grants and awards.
Currently residing in Finland, Peltokangas continues to delve into Sámi mythology and culture through his art, creating pieces that honor his ancestry while pushing the boundaries of contemporary blacksmithing.
Photo © Minta Peltokangas
No title
Material: Iron
Date: 2025/11
Photo © Fanny Huleback
- Lunch
14.30 Daniel Ramos Obregón
Entanglements in Practice: Reflecting on Artistic Research.
After diving deep into the open seas of Artistic Research and uncovering new understandings of what it can be, I have built a fresh set of lenses that help me examine my artistic practice. These lenses allow me to unpack the multiple layers of knowledge and experience embedded within it. In this lecture, I will guide you through the entanglements of my creative process, sharing insights from recent explorations and earlier works, to share insights into my drives, desires, practice, and the meta-questions that shape the world around us.
Daniel Ramos Obregón
Pronoun (he/her/they..etc): he/him
Geography/nationality Colombian
links
@danielramoso
https://danielramos.co/
BIO
Daniel Ramos Obregón is a Colombian artist, designer, drag performer, and educator currently based in Stockholm. His works often inquire about notions of human existence, specifically in contemporary society, such as the construction of the self in terms of identity, gender, and race, and the relation between mind and body, the spiritual and the material. His practice is rooted in thinking through making—in a wide range of media such as jewelry, ceramics, and leather—to create highly narrative objects and wearable art.
His works have been exhibited nationally and internationally in events such as Munich Jewellery Week, the Latinamerican Contemporary Jewelry Biennial, the Lisbon Jewellery Biennial, and the Venice Design Biennale, as well as in museums and galleries like Liljevalchs Konsthall (SWE), De Kerk–Museum Arnhem (NL), the Buenos Aires National Museum for Decorative Arts (ARG), Bayerischer Kunstgewerbeverein (GER), among others. He was a finalist in the accessory category at International Talent Support (2014) and has been nominated three times to the “Premio Lápiz de Acero” in 2015 and 2023.
Daniel graduated with a BA in Design from Universidad de los Andes in 2011—where he later worked as a professor for over 8 years—and an MA in Fashion Artefact from the London College of Fashion in 2014. He also studied in the Research Lab Craft program at Konstfack in 2024.
Title: ARTEFACT #7: TONGUE
Material: Porcelain, gold-plated brass.
Date: 2013
Photo © Jorge Perez Ortiz.
- Coffee break
16.30 Neke Moa
Pūrākau - storytelling
I am Wahine Māori from Aotearoa, my relationship to whenua - land and Moana - sea and all the things that exist in these spaces and the spaces unseen, is the world I traverse.
Sharing of Pūrākau, through making, collaborating with materials, tohunga and others, allows for constant exchange, ideas and questions. Pūrākau help people navigate life's transitions and spiritual changes, share knowledge, value and worldviews.
My toi-artworks act as tools for remembering, engaging potential, for finding place and purpose. Inspiring curiosity and wonderment.
I will share with the audience a meander, a peak into my world, perhaps if nothing more than igniting a curiosity.
Neke Moa
Pronoun: Her
Geography/nationality: Māori from Aotearoa/NZ
link
@NekeMoa
BIO
Neke Moa is tākata whenua (indigenous, māori) from Aotearoa/NZ. She creates adornment and objects. She has exhibited locally and internationally, was part of the Handshake project from 2010 to 2024, most recently awarded the Herbert Hofman prize in 2023, teaches and makes from her home in Ōtaki.
Neke Moa’s practice seeks to promote Hauora (health and sustainability) by deepening connections between people, tōhunga (knowledge holders), and atua (deities). Using materials from the environment, and drawing on customary and contemporary processes, she works to make mātauranga Māori (knowledge) and pūrākau (stories) newly accessible. Her work explores our connections within the spaces of the seen and unseen, the place where wairua (spirituality) resides and creativity is sourced.
“Through collaboration, building and maintaining relationships and a constant curiosity I am able to sustain an art practice that continues to evolve.”
Title: Coda works 2018
Material: Pounamu, coconut fibre, toweling, paint
Date: 2018
Photo © Neke Moa
- Dinner
Sunday 1 June
- Breakfast
10.00 Monika Brugger
Only jewellery ou les ritournelles de Monika Brugger
“Obsessions are fountains of youth. They frighten death away.” (Louise Weiss)
Monika Brugger moves through her life in the same way as she moves through two or more languages. She makes the most of images and her perception of a culture, transforming them into jewellery, installations and other devices.
She invites you to walk through her work, to take hold of her images: her red mittens, cherries on a child's ear, beading blood, flies in a summer garden.
The images she echoes in us could, after all, be our own.
In this way, Monika weaves together fiction, obsessions and autobiography, becoming a novelist in the process. She's a mischievous novelist, a vagabond who tickles the French language, playing with and outwitting words, their meaning, their permeability with reality and, of course, the images they evoke.
She'll tell you all about the journey through a life in which jewellery became not ‘Only jewellery’ but eine Heimat.
Monika Brugger
Pronoun: her
Geography/nationality: living in France, German
links
@Monika.brugger
BIO
Picking cherries, planting potatoes in Jersey and working in the vineyards was a real joy for Monika Brugger. The jewel returned when she had finished her Wanderjahre.
She was sometimes mistaken for a Swiss, yet she was born in Germany and looked out of the window at Switzerland, and today she claims France as her adopted home and jewellery as her Heimat. She lives between two languages. which is sometimes difficult and sometimes a real joy. Which is sometimes difficult and sometimes a real joy. She questions words even more, their meanings, their sounds, and she has fun with happy slips of the tongue. This is where she discovers her mother tongue most pertinently, and where she has chosen to explore the semantic repertoire available to jewellery and body adornment in her adopted language.
Photo © Matthieu Gauchet
Title: Stichwunde, donation of the seamstress
Date: 2007
Material: jewels, linen, garnets, clothes hangers, metal hooks, 3 wood cases, 60 x 95 x 5 cm each.
Work produced with the assistance of a 2005 research grant awarded by the CNAP (National Centre for Visual Arts), Paris and the A.i.R programme of ProArtibus Ekenäs/Tammisaari (FI) in 2006 Made in the textile workshop of the Yrkesinstitutest Sydväst Handverk och konstindustri in Ekenäs/Tammisaari (FI)
Overview from Galerie Mercier&Associés, Paris, 2018
Photo © Matthieu Gauchet
11.30 Chequita Nahar
Fanodu
Fanodu Sani and Prodo Gudu.
The works in my collections refer to culture-specific attributes, which are used during rituals or support important phases or events in life.
For instance, there are the fanodu sani, which are objects, such as a colander or combs, used to perform a washing ritual. But they can also be necessities or things that support or help you in everyday life. The fanodu objects in the wasi sani collection do just that: protect and support the wearer and his body. They are artist-made fanodu sani where the different materials and symbols used can support the wearer through different washes or stages of life. The materials used, such as porcelain, refer to the musical instruments that support the wasis with their sounds. These sounds make a specific sound so that it can be heard even at a distance, thus warding off evil. Then there are the prodo gudu, jewellery and objects, which you wear proudly because they communicate about your physical condition, mental state of mind or relationships.
Jewellery and objects, who are communicating how they should be used through their materials and shapes.
Chequita Nahar
Pronoun: she/her
Geography/nationality: Netherlands/Dutch born in Surinam
links
@chequita_nahar
BIO
Chequita Nahar (Paramaribo, 1970) is a Dutch jewellery designer, lecturer and curator. Living and working in Maastricht. Former head of the design and fine art department at the Academy of Fine Art in Maastricht, where she studied jewellery design herself and then completed her studies with a Masters at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. Her work is part of museum collections such as the Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum, Museum Arnhem, CODA, Textielmuseum Tilburg, Design Museum Munich and private collections. She is a prize winner of the Talente Award, Herbert Hofmann Prize and the Francoise van den Bosch award. Besides her work as a maker, she is active as a board member in several cultural foundations.
Her work stems from her bi-cultural background and is a fusion of different cultural influences. It combines Surinamese crafts and techniques with methods derived from contemporary jewellery practice.
Photo © Nahar
Title: WiWiri
Material: porcelain, silver, beechwood,
Date: 2023
Photo © Michiel Heffels
- Closing, Lunch & Bye-byes
Impressions
from Haxthäuser Hof
