27/08/2012
From the I Design Distribution blog (www.facebook.com/IDesignDistribution)
This album contains photographs of some of the works displayed at "Foreign Body: Giving Jewelry a Second Look", a thought-provoking exhibit organized by INTER ALIA showcasing the work of some of the most influential conceptual jewelry artist in Israel.
From the exhibition's preface:
"The field of jewelry making in Israel is varied and dynamic, encompassing a vast range of influences and methods as diverse as the voices behind them. The ancient practice of metalsmithing, which dates back to the Iron Age and involves the manipulation of metals through heat and physical processes, was in this region carried out and refined throughout the development of local civilizations including those of the Canaanites, Israelites, Bedouin, and – in the early 20th century – artists and craftspeople in the Bezalel School; shortly thereafter, immigrants from places such as Yemen and Bukhara (Uzbek) brought with them traditions in metalworking techniques and motifs, refined and perfected through generations of practitioners. More recently, academies and institutions of learning – notable among them Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in Ramat Gan, Tel-Hai College in the upper Galilee, and WIZO Haifa Academy of Design and Education – have joined the field as incubators for aspiring jewelers and launch points for the advancement of techniques and research in the field. Taken in unison, their contributions add to the foundations of the ongoing discourse that guides the field both locally and internationally today.
Foreign Body: Giving Jewelry a Second Look is a sampling of the most current works being produced in the local scene. The works in the exhibition represent a wide range of practices, methods, materials, narratives, and expressions. The artists selected to participate in the exhibition are aspiring masters of the demanding discipline of metalsmithing, incorporating a high level of skill and advanced technical processes in their work. Uncompromising in their dedication to personal expression, however, they manipulate the craft in skillful yet unconventional ways in order to achieve deeper levels of meaning.
The relationship between jewelry and the body is implicitly part of any discussion of jewelry. The aim of Foreign Body: Giving Jewelry a Second Look is to inspire deeper reflection on the works themselves. What do they say about the role of jewelry and its relationship not only to the body, but also to its own history, defining characteristics, and social functions? The exhibition is an exploration into these questions, and also provides a forum for recognizing (and continuing to legitimize) the necessity for supporting these investigations, experiments, and forms at a time when practitioners in all creative fields are testing the boundaries that have traditionally defined them with surprising results. Our understanding of such movements permits the examination of jewelry as not only ornament, but also a locus of identity comprising materiality and critical content. "
-Texts written by Navva Milliken, curator and organizer of Foreign Body: Giving Jewelry a Second Look
We would like to thank Navva Milliken, organizer and curator of the exhibit for her generosity, diligence and promptness in providing us with the photographs and texts for this album.
