2 minute read
Artists
Every issue of TAMUZ brings you the most creative and unique designers in Israel. This time, we have a special sneak peek at this first-ever event, set for November 10–14.
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Contemporary jewelry, while based on the classic field, affords the artisan extensive freedom with regard to techniques and materials. The designs expand a craft into an art form by defying expectations and raising questions about the status quo and accepted beauty markers, expressing a message, expounding an idea, or even raising a protest. The Biennale was created to give maximum exposure and a common platform to participating artists and students, to promote the field and make it accessible to the public.
The theme for this first edition is “Colorful Recovery.” COVID-19 has disrupted and changed our reality; the lifestyle we knew has been upended. It has caused fundamental changes in our patterns of life, the economy, and society in general, causing a rift, a turning point, and introducing another layer into our lives, a layer of uncertainty that obscures reality. After a long period of insecurity, fear, and sometimes even despair, we are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel; it was just the right time to add color and joy to our lives.
Ariel Lavian, founder of the Biennale, along with his assistant, Halelah Schiff, were sitting at his kitchen table last fall and started dreaming about such an event and how to make their fantasy a reality. It started with an open call to designers, organizations, galleries, and others related to contemporary jewelry worldwide. After several days and nights without sleep, working, mailing, talking, and meeting via Zoom, the picture became clearer. Lavian realized there was no way back, and the first Israel Biennale of Contemporary Jewelry was happening. The open call, also using the theme “Colorful Recovery,” was released in early March, and by the end of June, 187 submissions had been received!
Submissions were reviewed by a panel of three judges:
Chequita Nahar, a Dutch jewelry designer, tutor, and curator. Her work is informed by her bicultural background, reflecting a fusion of cultural influences.
Nichka Marobin, an Italian art historian specializing in Dutch and Flemish art history. In 2011 she founded The Morning Bark, a blogazette on arts and humanities.
Rachel Sasporta, senior curator at the Geological Museum, Ramat Hasharon, Israel.
The panel selected 20 professional artists and seven students to exhibit their jewels at the Geological Museum, which is hosting the Biennale. Many local and global organizations, galleries, and institutions joined Lavian on his path, among them:
Ramat Hasharon Municipality, Klimt02, Four Gallery, Venice Design Week, Lost in Jewellery Magazine, Mydaybyday Gallery, Romanian Jewelry Week, The Morning Bark, ACJ - Association for Contemporary Jewellery, The Gallery of Art in Legnica, The Jewellery Activist, and Art Jewelry Forum.
To learn more
Visit the Israel Biennale of Contemporary Jewelry website, or check it out on Instagram, @israelbiennale.
