Animal, Vegetable, Mineral Contemporary Jewellery Exhibition – Toronto

21/09/22

Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Canada

CANADA, ICELAND, FINLAND, NORWAY, SÁPMI, SWEDEN, DENMARK, Curated by Melanie Egan

Jewellery is one of the oldest cultural identifiers. Over 120,000 years ago, prehistoric humans engaged in this aesthetic, adorning their bodies with shell necklaces. Much like contemporary art, contemporary jewellery expands our view of society, culture, the world-at-large and ourselves. It differentiates itself from other craft practices because it isn’t one material. It can be animal, vegetable or mineral, thus opening many possibilities. Jewellery is significant for its direct associations with bodies, its ability to convey ideas at an intimate level and its movement through space and time.  

These artists embrace debris and detritus, running counter to widely held ideas about what constitutes “fine jewellery” and what represents value. Through the catalyst of contemporary jewellery, artists use materials redolent with meaning and the body as a site to confront issues of identity, social critique and political change. 

 

Dáiddadállu´s founder Máret Ánne Sara is one of the artists featured in this exhibition with her reindeer bone-porcelain jewlery that she has made in collaboration with Matt Lambert. Sara comes from a reindeer herding family in Kautokeino and currently works in her hometown. Sara works with both visual arts and authorship. She has published two novels and was nominated for the Nordic Council’s Children’s and Young Literature Prize in 2014 for her debut book Ilmmid gaskkas. The follow-up Doaresbealde doali was published in 2014. Sara has exhibited visual art since 2003 and often deals with political and social issues, from a Sámi and reindeer-social perspective. She is said to have a distinctive style and a recognizable visual expression. She has presented her work at Documenta 14 in Kassel in 2017 and is currently a featured artist at the 59th Venice Biennale. 

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