Someone in your neighbourhood may be jewellery nut

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Tutor Peter Deckers wears work by Jamesina Moffat

Lovers of contemporary jewellery will travel the country to see the national jewellery showcase at the Michael Fowler Centre 6-8 June. It is also another chance to catch up with the innovative work coming out of the Whitireia jewellery design programme. Students on the Whitireia Bachelor of Applied Arts (Jewellery design) course are participating in the National Jewellery Showcase, Wellington’s three-day jewellery extravaganza at the Michael Fowler Centre and at the same time, work by these students has been purchased by a Wellington Museum for exhibition. ‘Re-Telling Tales: Contemporary Translations in Jewellery,’ at the Museum of Wellington City and Sea runs from 15 May - mid-November, 2008.

It’s a hectic exhibition schedule in this training programme. But students travel from both islands and beyond to attend. Exhibition projects are vetted for relevance and included in the course work by tutor Peter Deckers. The students learn how to handle materials, develop artistic concepts and develop original aesthetic styles. “We’re working with a theme of Pairs or Pairing for the national showcase says Sarah Read, a student from London. “The jewellers have made a diverse range of jewellery objects to intrigue and delight, and possibly challenge common ideas of what jewellery stands for.”

“Its this breaking of boundaries that makes the course popular she says.

Peter Deckers, discusses jewellery seriously, as an artform and a passion. “Often our jewellery is the most intimate of our possessions. For artists, this close and intensely personal connection initiates a process of creative interrogation, transforming ideas into expressions."

The participating students in the national showcase are:

Hannah Efford, Wellington

Suni Gibson, Wellington

Alison Laird, Kapiti

Maia McDonald, New Plymouth

Jamesina Moffat, Christchurch

Sarah Read, London

Exhibitions:

Re-telling tales: Contemporary Translations in Jewellery at the Museum of Wellington City and Sea, which presents work inspired by the collection of the museum. 15 May - mid-November, 2008.

The National Jewellery Showcase at the Michael Fowler Centre runs from Friday 6 June to Sunday 8 June, entry $14. More on www.nationaljewelleryshowcase.co.nz/

Other work by the programme can be viewed at: http://www.whitireia.ac.nz/subcategory_display.php?category_id=8&subcategory_id=231

ENDS

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