Koorie Heritage Trust’s 'Blak Jewellery Finding Past · Linking Present' Exhibition Showcases Contemporary First Nations Jewellery Design
KHT’s Blak Jewellery exhibition, 2022. Courtesy of Koorie Heritage Trust, 2022.
From 4 September 2021 - 27 March 2022, the Koorie Heritage Trust (KHT) is holding an exhibition showcasing contemporary jewellery design. The exhibition, titled Blak Jewellery – Finding Past Linking Present, features eleven Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and designers, who have participated in the Koorie Heritage Trust’s inaugural year of their Blak Design program. The bespoke contemporary jewellery pieces featured are anchored in the themes of connection to Country, culture and family heritage (KHT, 2021).
Blak Design is a four-year program that aims to nurture and sustain First Nations design and cultural innovation within the Victorian design sector. In the KHT’s inaugural year of the program (2020-2021), the First Nations jewellery designers undertook intensive practical hands-on workshops to build on and refine their jewellery making skills. They also undertook professional development workshops led by creative industry leaders in design, marketing and business. One of these workshops was created and delivered by established contemporary jewellers Laura Deakin and Blanche Tilden (KHT, 2021).
KHT’s chief executive Tom Mosby informed NIT (2022) that Blak Design is part of a series of projects exploring contemporary Indigenous Australian design.
“These projects aim to promote First Nations design principles and best practice methodologies and theories to the broader design community while supporting and mentoring First Nations designers,” said Mosby.
Installation view of KHT’s Blak Jewellery exhibition, 2022. Courtesy of Koorie Heritage Trust, 2022.
Some of the participating First Nations artists include: Lisa Waup (Gunditjmara and Torres Strait Islander), Hollie Johnson (Gunaikurnai, Monero Ngarigo), Cassie Leatham (Taungurung), Ange Jeffery (Wiradjuri), Kait James (Wadawurrung) and Aunty Beverley Meldrum (Wirangu, Kokatha) (KHT, 2021).
One of the featured artists, Wadawurrung woman Kait James, told NIT (2022) that she enjoyed using different materials to turn her ancestral stories into unique jewellery and wearable art.
“My work has been based around my love of sheoaks or ngarri in Wadawurrung, and the connections to my ancestors.
Installation view of KHT’s Blak Jewellery exhibition, 2022. Courtesy of Koorie Heritage Trust, 2022.
Another designer, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo woman Hollie Johnson (2022) said the Blak Design program has helped her gain “an immense appreciation for this fine art, along with meeting and working with some amazing people from across many artistic disciplines.”
“The pieces I have created from this program carry connection to Country.
Combining both flora and fauna of what connects myself to Family and Place, that of which we have held dear to our hearts for many generations,” Johnson said to NIT, explaining the theme behind her jewellery pieces.
We highly recommend visiting this beautiful exhibition if you have the chance. It’s free to visit at the Koorie Heritage Trust, Yarra Building, Fed Square in Melbourne up until Sunday, March 27, 2022. For more information, check out Koorie Heritage Trust’s event page here.
If you are an art lover, we also recommend checking out our previous post for information about the ‘One Foot on the Ground, One Foot in the Water’ Exhibition at the Bunjil Place Gallery in Melbourne. This collaborative art exhibition, which explores our relationship with death, mourning and loss across a spectrum of cultures, will show until April 24th, 2022. You can find more information here.