Human has long adorned ourselves with jewellery, even before we had written-record. During this long period of history, jewellery has come to represent certain meanings, functions, and be associated with certain values. We use jewellery to cultivate good luck, avoid disasters, establish identity, build comradeship, show off wealth, display power, express love, memory and other feelings, and also to proclaim once or a society’s social and aesthetic values. Of course, jewellery can also be just a pure fashion statement.
The development of jewellery differs among different eras, regions, cultures, geographic environments and technology progressions. There is always a common thread, though, and that is to suit the needs of the time, the community, and the individual. Through the interaction of wearer, surroundings, and jewellery pieces, we learn how to express ourselves through adornment. Contemporary jewellery artists take this dialogue a step forward. They often use jewellery as the medium for discussing issues that they care about, or use traditional values associated with jewellery for articulating their personal views and opinions.
Since 2015, the “Why Jewellery?” Biennial Touring Exhibitions has become an opportunity in demonstrating the varieties of contemporary jewellery. Teachers, students and graduates from the Academy of Visual Arts, the Hong Kong Baptist University and Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Australia endeavour to create jewellery pieces from topics that are dear to their hearts. Through the interaction of works from two different cultures, we hope to illustrate the possibilities of contemporary jewellery, and its versatility in discussing contemporary issues.
Date: 20 - 28 Sep 2019
Time: 10 - 6pm
Venue: G/F, Koo Ming Kown Exhibition Gallery, Communication and Visual Arts Building, HKBU (5 Hereford Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong)
Closing Party: 4 - 6pm, 28 Sep 2019