BIRMINGHAM’S TRADITIONAL CRAFTS ARE GIVEN A NEW LEASE OF LIFE IN A CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY COLLABORATION
Heroes
An exhibition of new jewellery pairing contemporary designer makers with traditional Birmingham-based craftsmen such as gun engravers and pen makers
Heroes, a brand new exhibition launching in Birmingham on 7th December, has breathed new life into traditional craft techniques close to extinction, such as gun engraving and pen making, as the last generation of craftsmen join forces with contemporary jewellery designer makers.
Heroes is the culmination of a week-long workshop pairing traditional craftsmen, mostly over 60 years old, with contemporary studio jewellers from across the globe, including Europe and the USA, alongside young designer makers from the West Midlands.
The Heroes worked with the jewellery artists to create new work using skills and techniques made famous in Birmingham but which are now in danger of extinction, from gun engraving and pen making to comb making and chasing.
In many ways, the Heroes are the sole survivors of once widely held skills nurtured in industrial Birmingham, skills in real danger of being lost forever. The project was not only about learning specific techniques but about reinterpreting them in a very personal way.
The exhibition is a fascinating contrast between Birmingham’s bygone reputation as the city of 1,000 trades, and its current position as the UK’s jewellery capital, with the 250-year old Jewellery Quarter still unique in Europe.
It has also focused the attention of the world’s on Birmingham, with designer makers from as far a field as the Netherlands, USA, Hungary, Brazil and Israel working alongside six British designer makers, with project co-ordination by Dutch designer maker Ted Noten, an International Research Fellow at the renowned Birmingham City University School of Jewellery.
Photographs, film and jewellery made as part of the project will go on display during Brilliantly Birmingham 2007, the eighth annual season of contemporary jewellery celebrating the city’s rich heritage and growing reputation for cutting edge contemporary jewellery design.
Heroes is on from 7-13th December at The Custard Factory Gallery, Birmingham
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