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Articles - 29 March 2008

Inside Out

Jewellers and Metalsmiths Groups of Australia (JMGA)

13th National Conference

Christian Hall - Plane Brooch Christian Hall
Plane Brooch

The 13th Biennial JMGA Conference, Inside Out was held in Adelaide January 25 to 27, 2008. Inside Out brought together makers, writers, critics and cultural theorist from across Australia, Asia and the Pacific Regions to explore jewellery and object making inside these neighbouring regions and outside of the conventions of mainstream practice. This exchange of ideas, practices and experiences has proven to be a unique opportunity to foster new relationships and increased exchange between these countries and cultures.

The conference program included a Keynote Opening Address by Dr Kevin Murray (Aust), The Forest or the Bush? Sources of enchantment in contemporary Australian jewellery, two Keynote Speakers, Dr Christine Nicholls (Aust), A Hitchhiker's Guide to Australian Aboriginal bodily adornment, object making and jewellery, BC-AC, and Julie Ewington (Aust), Gift/Gifting/Gifted: the contemporary life of jewellery. Other speakers included:

  • Cinnamon Lee (Aust),   reSkinning the body - the body as a site for technology
  • Anna Miles (NZ),   Not Like the Other : Recent New Zealand Jewellery as Art
  • Therese Minitong-Kemelfield (Solomon Islands/Aust),   Pacific Body Adornment
  • Belinda Newick (Aust),   Exchanges
  • Bic Tieu (Japanese/Aust),   Vietnamese and Japanese Lacquer Arts
  • Alice Whish (Aust),   Taking The Time
  • Grace Cochrane (Aust),   Making it in metal: local/global collaborations
  • Rigel Sorzano (NZ),   Telling Stories: Aspects of Narrative and Contemporary New Zealand Object making
  • Professor Seung Hee Kim (Korea),   The Past and Present of Korean Metal Works
  • Marian Hosking (Aust) (Marian was unable to attend and her papers was presented and co-authored by Maureen Faye-Chauhan),   Shared spaces,
  • Dr Damian Skinner (NZ),   Antipodean Traffic: Schmuck in Münich and Aotearoa
  • Kate Rhodes (Aust),   Solutions for Better Living
  • Renee Ugazio (Aust),   Finding the Body
  • Wendy Walker (Aust),   The Rosary: From a Rose Garden to the iRosary
  • Robert Reason (Aust)   The Rhianon Vernon-Roberts Memorial Collection of Contemporary Australian Jeweller

Supporting the conference program was an extensive selection of exhibitions, workshops and social events. Approximately 32 exhibitions were held to coincide with the conference program at leading venues around Adelaide CBD and Regional areas. Exhibitions included:

  • The Decorated Body: Indigenous Australian Bodily Adornment and Bodily Modification Practices   South Australian Museum,
  • Chromagoria: a playful approach to Japanese Jewellery   Flinders University City Gallery and
  • Moved: 6 artists from China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand   Migration Museum,
  • Contemporary Australian Jewellery from the Rhianon Vernon-Roberts Memorial Collection   Art Gallery of South Australia,
  • fuse: jewellers and artists exploring self and society through diverse technology   JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design,
  • Beyond the Infinity II: Seoyoun Choi (Korea)   Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre
  • South Island - Ten Jewellers from the South Island of New Zealand   Soda and Rhyme

The Workshop program was made up of 6 professional workshops by leading national and international practitioners.The workshops were filled to capacity and their focus on developing new skills in new materials meant that they were attended by a cross section of practitioners - including visual artists. The workshops included:

  • Mark Vaarwerk (QLD), Transforming throwaway plastics - some simple techniques
  • Catherine Truman (SA) and Catherine Rogers (NSW), Swimming for jewellers: A wet and dry approach to sustainable health for contemporary jewellers
  • Oliver Smith (ACT), From 2D to 3D: simple processes to achieve complex forms
  • Sandy Elverd (SA), Contemporary Basket Weaving
  • Charon Kransen (USA), Professional Development Seminar
  • Erika Leitner (Austria), Material Formation: Textile Techniques in Metal, Fabric or Paper

To wash down this tasty selection of speakers, exhibitions and workshops were several events that kept all delegates mingling and meeting each other. The conference launch, Traditional welcome and Key Note Opening Address by Kevin Murray was followed by the three major exhibition openings at JamFactory, Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre and Light Square Gallery. Graduate Metal X1 - emerging ideas in jewellery and object held at the Light Sqare Gallery was an award exhibition and recipients are listed below. View images

The traditional JMGA Pin Swap dinner was transformed into a cocktail party at Hotel Richmond's First Bar. The conference closing party was held at Adelaide Bowling Club for a sunset Lawn bowls and a barbecue party. Bus tour of Soda and Rhyme and Gray Street Studio then down to McLaren Vale for lunch and back to Adelaide via Port Adelaide to the New Land Gallery to see Outside In - An Exhibition of Regional Jewellers: Alisa Dewhurst, Margot Douglas, Marcus Foley, Rut Froehlich, Gretchen Hillhouse, Sylvia Nevistic, Sean O'Connell, MJ Ryan Bennett, Dore Stockhausen, Zoe Veness, a beautiful exhibition curated by Melissa Turner.

As a whole the conference, exhibition and workshop programs were a huge success and feedback we have had has been very positive. Many thanks go out to all who attended, exhibited, ran workshops, and participated in workshops, volunteered. Sponsored, and partnered the project. As Project Manager I want to extend a very special thanks to Craftsouth for auspicing the project.

Please keep an eye on the website for photos from the conference. Publication of all the speakers' papers will be available and we will post a notice on the website when this publication is available. www.jmgasa.net.au

Amy Worth,
Project Manager
March 2008

 

Awards

Graduate Metal X1 - emerging ideas in jewellery and objects is an award exhibition that is held in conjunction with the National Biennial JMGA Conferences. This will be the eleventh show of its kind and will be a survey of selected work of approximately 100 recent Jewellery and Metalsmithing graduates from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea and Thailand. Congratulations to the recipients.

Sandra Marker

First prize
Judges Choice Award
Sandra Marker
Sydney Institute of TAFE, Design Centre Enmore, NSW, Australia
$1,000 worth of photographic services from Grant Hancock

Tomoka Kaizu

Second prize
Judges Choice Award
Tomoka Kaizu
Tokyo National University, Fine Arts and Music, Saitama, Japan
A Selection of Jewellery Books including a hand signed copy of Julie Blyfield

Jimin Kim

Third prize
AMC Award - For "The skillful and creative use of contemporary materials"
Jimin Kim
Kookmin University, Department of Metalwork and Jewellery, College of Design, Seoul, South Korea
$300 worth of products donated by Grant Evans from Adelaide Moulding and Casting Supplies

The judges were: Julie Blyfield - Contemporary Jeweller of international acclaim, and co-founder of the Gray Street Jewellery Workshop; Robert Reason - Curator of European and Australian Decorative Arts at the Art Gallery of South Australia and affiliate lecturer of Politics at the University of Adelaide; Julie Ewington - writer, curator and broadcaster - is currently Head of Australian Art at Queensland Art Gallery.

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