13 Mar 2014
From enamelled flies to typography to decorating the streets in lei, New Zealand’s most promising young designers and world-renowned jewellers will be making their mark in three major exhibitions in Germany.
This week New Zealand will boast its largest ever presence at the world’s leading international trade fair for contemporary jewellery, applied arts, design and technology.
Eleven New Zealanders have been selected to showcase their work over 12-18 March at Schmuck and Talente – two long-standing exhibitions that are part of the annual International Trade Fair for the Skilled Trades held at Gallery Handwerk in Munich. Schmuck and Talente attract the world’s top makers, curators, gallerists and collectors to see new work and to meet up-and-coming talents.
Creative New Zealand is supporting the 11 craft artists and designers to travel to the exhibitions and has enlisted Auckland-based contemporary jeweller Renee Bevan to act as mentor for the artists selected for Talente.
“We want our artists to able to make the most of this amazing opportunity by attending the exhibitions, taking advantage of networking opportunities, and to experience the work of other leading practitioners,” says Cath Cardiff, Creative New Zealand’s Senior Manager Arts Policy, Capability and International.
“Renee has first-hand experience with these events in Munich, having herself been selected for Talente in 2005 and Schmuck in 2008. We’re excited to have her on board.”
Schmuck is the oldest exhibition of contemporary jewellery in the world. This year, two New Zealand jewellers, Peter Deckers and Shelley Norton, have been invited to present their work. They join just 66 jewellers selected from the more than 550 who applied from 43 countries.
“This opportunity places Peter and Shelley squarely in the international jewellery avant-garde and amongst some of the greatest names in the artform,” says Ms Cardiff.
Talente is one of Europe’s most prestigious showcases for emerging talent in design, technology and craft/object art. Now in its 33rd year, the international competition is a platform for young craft artists and designers to launch their careers to the wider European market. This year, nine young New Zealanders have been invited to present their work:
- Jewellery: Jhana Millers (Wellington) and Moniek Schrijer (Wellington)
- Typography: Daniel Devoy (Auckland), Liam Farrell (Napier), Grace Kim (Auckland) and Samantha Lewis (Wellington)
- Textiles: Stacey Ellis (New Plymouth)
- Technology: Alex Styants (Auckland) and Toby Vanderspeck (Napier)
“New Zealanders are almost 10 percent of the 98 designers selected from throughout the world, which highlights the quality of young Kiwis entering the creative industries,” says Renee Bevan, 2014 Talente mentor.
Munich is also hosting Wunderruma – the largest exhibition of New Zealand contemporary jewellery ever to travel to Europe. Curated by New Zealand jewellers Warwick Freeman and Karl Fritsch with the assistance of Fran Allison, the exhibition brings together over 200 pieces by more than 75 contemporary New Zealand jewellers and artists. As part of Wunderruma, Auckland-based artist Niki Hastings McFall will create a large site-specific work Polynisation to provide a Pacific welcome to the exhibition.
Creative New Zealand helped fund the Wunderruma exhibition, as well as the Polynisation work.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Jasmyne Chung
Communications Adviser, Creative New Zealand
M +64 27 838 8868 | jasmyne.chung@creativenz.govt.nz
CATEGORIES: Capability building, Events, International Latest news and blog
Share this
