New Traditional Jewellery: True Colours

Though I don't think that I'll be able to make this exhibition, I wanted to share the information for this years New Traditional Jewellery showcase. The show is a biannual show which is hosted at the Museum voor Moderne Kunst Arnhem in the Netherlands. This years theme is True Colours, which is more than welcome as we exit the drab season of winter and begin to look for the colorful signs of spring.

Some of my favorites are pictured here:
The top image is a necklace by Tamara Gruner. I appreciate her monochromatic palate, and how the uniformity of the composition transforms the recycled materials into decorative objects that seem much more opulent than they are. The middle image is a necklace titled Show Me Colours 2010, by Denise Julia Reytan, and again features a composition of repurposed materials. The hyper saturation of the colors create a vibrancy that just makes my mouth water! Finally, the bottom image of the multi‐coloured Urban Tribal Necklace of Amanda Caines uses rejected telephone and computer wires made of plastic in bright colors, winding wool around them, fastens vintage fabrics to them and subsequently decorates them with beads.

Gah, I cannot wait for the catologue for this exhibition to come out!
Here is the mission statement for the show:

New Traditional Jewellery is a bi-annual international design competition in the field of contemporary jewellery. Historical or ethnographical carriers of meaning are taken as an incentive to generate new forms. In addition to this general framework there is also a specific theme. After traditional costume, faith and intimacy, this year’s theme is ‘True Colours’. Literally this refers to colour, for example in relation to materials and pigments. Throughout the ages colours and materials, such as gold and silver, often determined the meaning and value of pieces of jewellery. In the 1970’s and ‘80s other materials, such as textiles and Perspex, were also used.

As a result there emerged a new ‘language of colours’. This was an important step in the emancipation of contemporary jewellery. Therefore, ‘True Colours’ is about the history, meaning, value, magic and power of colour. Figuratively speaking, ‘True Colours’ could also mean “showing your true colours” or ‘to unveil your true self’. In this sense the theme could be approached from a social point of view, in which today’s multicoloured society is the main focus of attention. Colour contains information about status and social position. Colour can shout, curse, emancipate, help, judge and segregate.

Colours is a statement.