on October 23rd 2024 the students of the Jewellery- Linking Bodies department have embarked on a day trip to Eindhoven to visit the Body exhibition as part of the DDW24 and the exhibition Soils at the Van Abbemuseum. The excursion was initiated by our theory tutor Angela Jerardi and accompanied by our guest tutor Gitte Nygaard.
The Body Project as part of the Dutch Design week 2024 is an ongoing dialogue between different makers, their work and its focus on the body and to re-contextualize the context of jewelry by examining the relationship with the body as a framework and questioning the relationship between the body and the object.
Soils at the Van Abbemuseum explores a renewed connection with our soils as the foundation of our lives. It is where our ancestors once lived and where future generations will build an existence. It is the link between past, present and future. The source that feeds us. But the relationship between human and earth is also often strained. From land depletion and overproduction to land grabbing and (labour) exploitation. How can we re-ground ourselves in our environment? And how does that help us reconnect with each other? The group exhibition Soils addresses these questions. International artists, designers, farmers and activists work towards more empathy for our soils.
We are excited to invite you for the continuation of our lecture series – In Dialogue. From time to time on a Tuesday afternoon we invite an artist and an alumnus, to present their work in relation to each others practices and engage in conversation with our students and external guests.
Displace, 2020, Elena Khurtova 3bisf Art Centre, Aix-en-Provence, France
For the first lecture of this academic year, we are excited to welcome our alumni Franca Ullrich in dialogue with Elena Khurtova on Tuesday, October 8th at 15:30.
Elena Khurtova will introduce her artistic practice and perspective on the subject of body & soil. Departing from her research on human-soil relations and soil as a physical archive, her presentation will focus on the projects Displace / Soil Works, When rocks weather and Residue.
With site-specific approach, for example exploring grondbanken and polluted terrains such as former munitions factory Hembrug, she connects artistic research with embodied methodologies. Combining field-research, archival exploration, material experimentation and performative activations, her interdisciplinary process aims to reveal the interdependencies of materiality, geopolitics and ecology.
Counterposing the prevalent vanishing of an intimate perception of soil, she explores connection to this primaeval material by taking her own body and performativity as a starting point in her process. By practising intimate gestures of bodily interaction with matter, she enters into a dialogue with soil and looks for possibilities to let soil tell its own story.
Franca Ullrich will be joined by soft companions, figures central to her practice since her graduation. She will speak about her project 233kinds, featuring small sculptures and molds of stuffed animals in mobile incubators, and reflect on her journey as a maker, social artist, cleaner, and business owner, exploring how these roles interconnect.
Research Atacama Desert, Chile 2022 in collaboration with Desierto Vestido Tarapaca Image by the artist Franca Ullrich
BIO Franca Ullrich (1991, Heidelberg) is a multidisciplinary artist, goldsmith, and founder of Frank Jewels, based in Leipzig, Germany. Her journey started with a passion for tools and craftsmanship during her goldsmith training, where she developed her narrative in jewelry making. After earning her BA in Art and Design at the Rietveld Academy, she established her brand in Leipzig to explore the intersection of diverse disciplines and practices in a playful yet critical way. Departing from traditional goldsmithing, she works with landfills, local junkyards, jewelry donations, and discarded objects, crafting new stories through destruction, transformation, care, and collaboration. She aims to connect different bodies of knowledge and disciplines through the lens of jewelry making.
BIO Elena Khurtova (1982, Samara) is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher. Reflecting on the interplay of fragility and resilience of human and environmental conditions, her work explores the overlapping notions of care and control. She works across performative and sculptural installations, drawings and artist books, building poetic relationships with concrete and fluid materials and mapping the transience between human and nonhuman agencies. In her recent projects, she focuses on collaborating with soils. Khurtova studied at the University of Architecture of Samara, Russia and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. She was artist in residence at Atelier Holsboer, Paris/ 3bisF, Aix-en-Provence/ EKWC – European Ceramic Workcentre, Den Bosch. Khurtova’s work has been presented internationally at institutions like Manifesta biennial #13, Contemporary Art Centre 3bisF,FR / Kunsthalle Lottozero, IT / Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Museum, Zone2Source, Looiersgracht 60, Arti & Amicitiae, Sonic Acts Biennial, NL. She was awarded the artistic research fellowship and currently teaches at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. See more: www.elenakhurtova.com
We hope to see you, this time in our department.
Tuesday 8th of October 15:30-17:30 At the Jewellery- Linking Bodies department 1st floor Rietveld Building (room 007) Gerrit Rietveld Academie Frederik Roeskestraat 96 1076 ED Amsterdam
JEWELLERY – LINKING BODIES & STRANDLAB FIELD ACADEMY
Introduction Week, Sept 3-5, 2024
For three days in September the Jewellery-Linking Bodies Department started the year in residence at StrandLAB’s field academy. The students used the beach of Almere as a location for research and exploration.
On Sunday, September 22 the students will return to Almere’s beach to share gifts created from the testings and findings of their field academy residency at TESTZONE, a stage for makers and visitors to experiment with land and art.
Test Zone, Sept 22, 2024
At 16:15 Emma Hoette (curator StrandLAB’s field academy) invites for a walk & talk, in which we will explore together our role in the natural ecosystem around us. More information about the whole program (12:00 – 18:00) you find here >
TESTZONE JEWELLERY – LINKING BODIES & STRANDLAB FIELD ACADEMY Sunday, September 22 14:00 – 15:00 (14:00 meeting point StrandLAB) StrandLAB IJmeerdijk 1-B 1309 BA Almere
Test Zone, Sept 22, 2024Test Zone, Sept 22, 2024Test Zone, Sept 22, 2024Introduction Week, Sept 3-5, 2024Photos by Emma Hoette and students of the Jewellery- Linking Bodies Department
