Redazione

AGC, the Italian Association for contemporary jewellery, takes to Barcelona the exhibition Devotional Jewellery | Gioiello Devozionale. Pensieri Preziosi 17 from Padova, through a new setup in the exhibit hall of the famous Escola Massana.

The opening is scheduled for Tuesday 26 September 2023 at 6.30 pm at the Escola Massana headquarters, Plaça de la Gardunya, 9 and can be visited until 13 October according to the opening hours of the art and design center located at Raval, right behind the Boqueria Market.

With the project started in Padua at the San Rocco Oratory for the 17th edition of Pensieri Preziosi/Precious Thoughts event, an important international festival of contemporary jewellery, the curators Mirella Cisotto Nalon and Maria Rosa Franzin have developed the idea of Elena Alfonsi, thananalogist, identifying a contemporary focus on devotional jewellery.

A broad view of the concept and meaning of loss aimed at the loss, the sudden, total and permanent lack of an affection; however, collective themes also emerge, such as the destruction of forests, the extinction of animal species and, in some works, the desire not to lose artistic techniques that collect the cultural significance of a land.
The exhibition features the works of over 80 international artists, selected from a great number who responded to the AGC Call, together with some invited artists: Jivan Astfalck, David Bielander, Stephen Bottomley, Helen Britton, Sébastien Carré, Jürgen Eickhoff, Arata Fuchi, Kadri Mälk, Judy McCaig, Kazumi Nagano, Ramón Puig Cuyàs, Marianne Schliwinski, Alejandra Solar, Tanel Veenre, Silvia Walz.

The organization of the exhibiting circuit is the result of the collaboration of the Spanish/Catalan and Italian members of AGC with the support of the Acción Cultural Dpt. of Escola Massana Art and Design Center, the Direction of Contemporania the CCAM Consorci de Comerç, Artesania i Moda de Catalunya and the JORGC - Official College of Jewellers, Goldsmiths, Watchmakers and Gemologists of Catalonia.

AGC website: www.agc-it.org

Following the works of some authors selected for the exhibition:

Nomoto Misaki, necklace

Thalau Birgit, brooch

Houtman Maya, pendant

Kiskite Lauryna, brooch

Cristalove, brooch

Fuchi Arata, earrings

Alejandra Solar, brooch

Rios Cova, pendant - earrings - ring

Francia

Vegetation, Animal, and Mineral are all combined in objects reminiscent of organic forms and landscapes.

Mixing materials in order to create a symbolic life in an object by using interactive mediums allows me to wake up a body which tends to be more insensitive due to an over-communicativity of society.

Time is an essential aspect of the work being made. Through the moments spent making, wearing and connecting with people, I find deeper connections. It is an immaterial patrimony that I am trying to spread in order to make us realize how much we are all bound together.

When conceiving and making work I put meaning in every shape, every color, every texture. Each part is meaningful in my own mythology that I decided to express through visual language, not with words.

Celebrating diversity will make us grow. In the story of the living, if no cells decided to mix and cooperate instead of trying to destroy each other, life would have never grown to produce human and our own self.

Let’s Cherish the diversity in our small world, being together is already a treasure.

UK

Professor Stephen Bottomley is the Head of the School of Design at Glasgow School of Art. Previously he has led the schools of Jewellery and Fashion and Textiles at Birmingham City University (2017-2021) and department of Jewellery and Silversmithing at Edinburgh College of Art (2008-17), as well as teaching at a range of other Universities for over thirty years.

A contemporary jeweller, his work is in the National Museums of Scotland, the British Museum and the Cominelli Foundation Collection, Italy. His work combines the ancient techniques of jewellery making with evolving and contemporary materials and technologies. Materials include vitreous enamel jewellery combined with metals and other industrial. Inspiration comes from the rhythm and patterns found in oriental motifs and mathematical geometry through layers of embossed repetitive patterns and textures.

Bottomley has curated exhibitions and inter-disciplinary projects in Chicago, Lake Garda, Beijing, Shanghai and Munich. A past chairman of the Association for Contemporary Jewellery (2005-07) he was proud to be connected to the AGC when it was founded. Bottomley is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths since 2017.

Spain

Being a pharmacist and a food safety technician by profession my relationship with jewelry began by chance looking for a way to develop my creativity and my interest in art.

This is how I have found in artistic jewelry a new way of contemplating the forms that I find in nature and in my dreams, but also in the stories that inspire me.

I experiment with colors, textures and materials looking for artistic compositions to tell stories.

Therefore, once I graduated in jewelry from the Valencia High School of Art and Design (EASD), envolving myself into this world is being an exciting journey in which feelings, sensations and experiences are transformed into portable works of art with the intention of highlight the ability to communicate of the

contemporary artisan jewelry. An adventure I don't want to get out of.

Italy

Hailing from Italy, Alice started her study in Jewellery design at the Liceo Pietro Selvatico in Padova. After her diploma she moved to the UK, initially in England and later in Scotland, where she further pursued the Silversmithing and Jewellery design course at the Glasgow School of Art, graduating with a BA (hons) in June 2023. Alice has been exploring the theme of pain and trauma through her collections for the past year to spread awareness about mental health and open a conversation with the public, with the aim of normalised human emotions. Over the years she took part in competitions and exhibitions in Europe, in the United Kingdom, and internationally.

This project began to develop in December 2012, in Tokyo, during the meeting of the two Chairmen of AGC and JJDA who, by mutual agreement, decided to initiate the enterprise in 2015, the year that marks the 50th anniversary of JJDA and the 10th anniversary since the foundation of AGC.
So Dialogues among the members of the two associations began with each artist sending his counterpart an image related to the artistic culture of his/her own country, as inspiration material for the creation of a piece of jewellery, establishing that, at the end of the exhibition, the participants would donate the piece to the Japanese/Italian colleague and vice-versa.

The exhibition at the Institute of Culture in Tokyo, from 3rd to 11th July 2015, was made possible thanks to the cooperation of many friends and members of the two associations, and above all, to the hospitality of the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute, Mr. Giorgio Amitrano.

Opening ceremony: Friday 3 July, from 4pm to 6pm
On Saturday 11th July, the exhibition ends at 4pm

Opening exhibition in Tokyo at the Italian Cultural Institute, 3 July - 11 July 2015:

Greetings from the Director Giorgio Amitrano

Exhibition "Dialogues" at the Italian Cultural Institute in Tokyo

jewels on display at the Italian Cultural Institute in Tokyo

IIC Tokyo - Italian Cultural Institute, designed by Italian architect Gae Aulenti (1927-2012)

The exhibition will take place also in:

Kofu Prefectural Museum of Art (Yamanashi) at Main Residence Shiinoki , Ishikawa Prefecture, 19 – 28 September 2015

Yamanashi Jewellery Museum

Museo Storia naturale del Mediterraneo, Livorno 4-11 Giugno 2016

Museo di Storia Naturale del mediterraneo

Museum of Livorno (Italy)

opening at Museum in Livorno

Fondazione Cominelli, Cisano di San Felice/B Salò (BS) 25 giugno- 24 luglio 2016

Fondazione Cominelli

Oratorio di S. Rocco, Padova 24 settembre – 5 novembre 2016

Oratorio di San Rocco

the exhibition in Oratorio di San Rocco, Padova

from right side: Mirella Cisotto, Wanda Pellizzari (Comune Padova), Takako Komiya and Prof.ssa Maria Rosa Franzin

Presidente JJDA, Takako Komiya

Museo del Bijou di Casalmaggiore, 26 novembre – 15 gennaio 2017

Museo del Bijou di Casalmaggiore

AGC artist list:

Francesca ANTONELLO, Adrean BLOOMARD, Roberta BERNABEI, Patrizia BONATI, Anna Maria CARDILLO, Luisa CHIANDOTTO, Corrado DE MEO, Clara DEL PAPA, Elisabetta DUPRE’, Flavia FENAROLI, Anna FORNARI, Rita MARCANGELO, Maria Rosa FRANZIN, Nicoletta FRIGERIO, Lucilla GIOVANNINETTI, Angelo LOMUSCIO, Chiara LUCATO, Gigi MARIANI, Simona MATERI, Marco MINELLI, Paola MIRAI, NALJ Jewels, Eliana NEGRONI, Margareta NIEL, Tania PALAZZI, Liana PATTIHIS, Alessandra PASINI, Roberta PAVONE, Marco PICCIALI, Alba POLENGHI LISCA, Daniela REPETTO, Stefano ROSSI, Chiara SCARPITTI, Sergio SPIVACH, Stefano SPIVACH, Claudia STEINER, Yoko TAKIRAI, Silvia VALENTI, Barbara UDERZO, Gabi VEIT, Caterina ZANCA.

JJDA artist list:

FUJIMOTO Nahoko, HATANAKA Noriko, HIRAKAWA Fumie, ITO Satomi, KASHIHARA Erina, KOBARI Keiko KOBAYAKAWA Mariko, KOJIMA Takashi, MATSUURA Mineri, MISHIMA Itto, NAKAHARA Eiko, NAKAJIMA Nagi, NARUMI Taeko, OSHIMA Yayoi, SATO Yoko, SHIGETA Emiko, SHIRAO Yumi, SUGA Mario, SUMA Fumie, TAGUCHI Fumiki, TAKAGI Chisa, TAKANAKA Harumi, TANEZAWA Setsuko, TSUBOI Keiko, UCHIDA Yoshiko, UNNO Eriko, WASHIMI Nobuko, YAMAZAKI Sumiko, YASUGI Mayumi, YUKI Makiko, HIEDA Makoto, HIRAKO Koichi, KITADA Michie, KOMIYA Takako, NAGAI Yutaka, NISHIWAKI Nobuko, SAWAMOTO Masako, YOSHIDA Yuko, MIZUNO Kaoluko, KIYOTA Tomoaki.

This project, as well as the production of exhibition catalogues, will also include conferences in both countries; the theme The culture of the territory in Jewellery will highlight the analysis of the jewellery making in Italy and Japan with particular reference to historic gold and silversmithing, techniques, research and development of contemporary jewellery, with the participation of representatives of the Italian and Japanese jewellery culture.

Support for Italy- Municipalities of the hosting locations
Support for Japan - Institute of Italian Culture in Tokyo

AGCpunto.23, the association's annual event will be hosted for the entire month of August this year in Guardiagrele, thanks to the coordination of Roberta Pavone, AGC member in Abruzzo, a region in central Italy, between Adriatic sea and the Appennino mountains.

The event takes place in the context of the summer festival of the 53rd Artistic Craft Show and the general opening is scheduled for July 31st at 6 pm. The festival takes place at the Palazzo dell'Artigianato - Via Roma 28 , from 1 to 27 August. Opening hours: 10.30-12.30 and 15.00-22.00

AGCpoint.23 : sguardi femminili contemporanei (contemporary female focuses).

Our event, as an introduction to AGC Association, open to the public, will be held on August 1st at 9 pm with a talk on topics about our work and in dialogue with the theme proposed this year by the festival organization which is focused on the female universe. In the late afternoon of August 1st and/or in the

morning of August 2nd, for those who can join us, we plan to organize a networking aperitif reserved for members (details will be sent to all members shortly).

The exhibition setup is curated by Roberta Pavone, with the coordination of Eliana Negroni and the support of Chiara Scarpitti. In addition to the presence of the AGC board representatives, Roberta Bernabei and Corrado De Meo, we are happy to receive many members who have joined the initiative.

We are waiting for you all in Guardiagrele,

Happy summer from AGC!

Artists list:

Sara Barbanti, Roberta Bernabei, Margherita Berselli, Maura Biamonti, Alice Biolo, Adrean Bloomard, Rosa Borredá, Emanuele Cannoletta, Natalia Cellini, Luisa Cesira Chiandotto, Jeemin Jamie Chung, Lluís Comín, Roberta Consalvo Sances, Corrado De Meo, Adriana Del Duca, Clara Del Papa, Fluxis Mariangela Murgia | Alberto Catalano, Maria Rosa Franzin, Nicoletta Frigerio, Stefano Fronza, Lucilla Giovanninetti, Mari Ishikawa, Yukiko Kakimoto, Ji Young Kim, Letizia Maggio, Rita Marcangelo, Gigi Mariani, Mineri Matsuura, Judy McCaig, Francesca Mo, GianCarlo Montebello, Kazumi Nagano, Eliana Negroni con Patrick Davison, Sogand Nobahar, Liana Pattihis, Roberta Pavone, Marco Picciali, Sara Progressi, Anna Retico, Carla Riccoboni, Stefano Rossi, Chiara Scarpitti, Sílvia Serra Albaladejo, Claudia Steiner, Yoko Takirai | Pietro Pellitteri, Pilar Viedma, Yiota Vogli, Babette Von Dohnanyi, Caterina Zanca, Caterina Zucchi.

Following some works of the members on display:

work by Babette Von Dohnanyi

work by Stefano Fronza

work by Judy McCaig

work by Mariangela Murgia

work by Adriana Del Duca

work by Mari Ishikawa

work by Letizia Maggio

work by Pilar Viedma

work by Natalia Cellini

work by Gigi Mariani

work by Roberta Consalvo Sances

work by Rita Marcangelo

work by Giancarlo Montebello

Spain

My work is born from an excessive passion for collecting. I love to compile systematically objects and curiosities and the process of selecting, storing and transforming them becomes a real obsession until they are worshiped as unique pieces.

All the objects have had an owner and a story before I use and transform them. I feel a strong passion for all the ancient.

My goal is to raise those found objects to another category and perpetuate them through time, combining the knowledge and experimenting with the materials.

I wish to embellish even the most insignificant fragments, creating something new and being able to transmit the feelings about them without losing its essence in order to perpetuate their lives.

Italia

About è: saperi manuali e cultura tra oreficeria artigianale, design, arte condivisione di idee ed imprenditorialità nel segno della sostenibilità.

About in pochi anni è diventato un riferimento professionale.

About è un luogo di lavoro, di scambio e di contaminazione tra le arti con un'impronta internazionale. Dialogare con il resto del mondo, portare da noi maestri orafi e nuove competenze, utili per affrontare il mondo del gioiello, è un nostro costante obbiettivo.
​
About è incontrarsi, scambiare idee, un luogo dove contaminare e contaminarsi nell’ accezione più positiva che questa parola può avere.

Giappone

The world we see is only a part of the entire reality which is composed of many worlds existing simultaneously, side by side.

Mari Ishikawa sees a parallel world through her everyday life and visualizes them as jewelry, giving us the opportunity to recognize the many moments we miss.

"If you don't try to see it, you won't see it; it's only when you try that you begin to see it.”