FINDINGS
The Association for Contemporary Jewellery's
quarterly
newsletter
April 2002
Barcelona Exchange
'Distinto
- Distinct', an exchange exhibition of contemporary Catalan and
British Jewellery between Kath Libbert Jewellery at Salts Mill and
Hipotesi Gallery, Barcelona.
We trailed this initiative in an earlier Findings, and here Kath
Libbert tells us all about its progress. KLJ, based at Salts Mill
near Bradford since 1996, has initiated an exciting exchange project
with the renowned jewellery gallery Hipotesi in Barcelona. It is
a 'selected favourites' show chosen by the two gallery owners, Kath
and Maria Lluisa Samaranch, with each other's taste in mind - a
very enjoyable collaboration both face to face (Kath has been out
twice to Hipotesi) and through sending each other images each thinks
will excite the other. The title was chosen to emphasize a key objective
which is to present visitors with work which is particularly Distinto
- Distinct. The final selection of six British and six Spanish (mainly
Catalan) jewellers was made together with Maria Lluisa during Kath's
visit to Hipotesi last November, and consists of the following:
Spanish - Carmen Amador, Grego Garcia, Xavier Ines, Montse Marin,
Silvia Piva and Milena Trujillo; British - Jessica Briggs, Christina
Hirst, Jo McAlister, Kathryn Marchbank, Dot Sim, Sarah Stafford.
The British work will be on show at Hipotesi from 13 June to 15
August and the Catalan work will be at KLJ from 4 July to 31 August.
A colour catalogue will accompany the exhibition, focusing in particular
on the processes each maker has gone through in the production of
their pieces.
Another aspect of the project will be making the most of the learning
possibilities within the cultural exchange. All six British jewellers
will go out to Barcelona to attend the preview event for their work
at Hipotesi and then participate in a day of joint presentations
in the jewellery department at the Scuola Massana, the prestigious
art college in Barcelona. Visits to other jewellery galleries will
also take place. The Crafts Council has kindly given financial support
to the production of the catalogue and to the costs of the British
jewellers' visits to Barcelona. It has always been envisaged that
the Catalan makers would attend the preview at Salts Mill and make
presentations and workshops there, and Kath is currently trying
to raise further funding for this, in collaboration with the Yorkshire
Craft Centre via Yorkshire Arts, to enable this part of the project
to take place, as there is so much interest here from local jewellers
and from regular gallery customers.
Finally, for those of you unable to hop on a cheap flight to Barcelona,
there will be an opportunity to see selected highlights of the British
show at KLJ at Salts Mill during October 2002.