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Picture by Rikki Siebens Today ‘precious people

Picture by Rikki Siebens

Today ‘precious people’ was awarded by the province of Antwerp with the Prize of Global Research.

I created this piece out of powerlessness. How can I, as an individual, make a difference in a humanitarian crisis of this magnitude? I translated activism and involvement into the language of jewellery. After all, people like to look at anything that is beautiful. The refugee situation is not: Europe carries out illegal pushbacks and deprives vulnerable people of their human rights. And this happens even on the open sea. Looking away from such horror is therefore an easy way out.

Through this piece I try to combine beauty and horror. So people don’t look away from it at first glance, but reconsider the situation.The sometimes loaded words from media are removed and the stones have become the language. To name a few aspects: they are unique, precious, but at the same time traded and taken away from the place where long ago their genesis began. I try to make refugees shine by placing them in a different light.

This work is a protest. A protest against institutions and media who partly decide how we look upon refugees.
Now the work got awarded, it feels weird to accept a monetary prize for it.
I hesitated first to accept it, but then decided to take the opportunity to try and make a difference.

I’ll make an edition of 15 silver boats, as that is the amount of boats I can get out of that 1kg of silver I’ve got from the Silver Festival.
The proceeds from the silver will all go to local organizations that try to improve the living conditions for people in refugee shelters.

All 15 boats will be filled with 301 unique recycled precious stones, so non of them will be exactly the same.
The silver boat is as it should be, the wooden boat is how it is for refugees today.

If you are interested in ordering one of these 15 pieces, you can sign up via the link in bio.

(I’ll make wooden boats later as well, but I don’t have a plan for that edition yet.)

My poster of ‘precious people’ got selected by

My poster of ‘precious people’ got selected by @onboards.biennale
It is on view at Amsterdamstraat 23 in Antwerp, together with 199 other posters
all over the city of Antwerp.
The posters are on view until July 25.
And they’re for sale!
You can order your own A0-format on the website of onboards.be. Link in bio.
Place your order before August 28 to get one.
There’s even an audio guide link on the website.

‘precious people’ is based on a photo of Massimo Sestini that won the World Press Photo 2015. The image depicts a boat with refugees photographed from above. It is conceived as a tutti frutti piece, which is an imitation of reality. Making an imitation of reality today is particularly difficult, as we live in a fake news era. Therefore, the reference to true reality is gone. Of which reality can I make an imitation?

People like to look at anything that is beautiful.
The refugee situation is not. Europe carries out illegal pushbacks and deprives vulnerable people of
their human rights. And this happens even on the open sea.
In this boat, over 300 migrants risk their lives and those of their children to flee their unsafe homes.
Looking away from such horror is therefore an easy way out.
I try to give stories of refugees a different perspective than what we generally see and hear
in the media.
The viewer is attracted by the beauty and richness of the piece, after which it is difficult to look away without consciously reflecting upon it.

There are two versions of the boat, one made of silver and one made of wood. The silver version is the setting that every person would deserve. This wooden version is the real situation. No one imagines a brilliant cut stone in a wooden setting, but in the European Union this mistake is possible. Europe keeps migrants out of its borders through illegal push backs and puts their fate in the hands of people smugglers.

-Precious People- Picture: Massimo Sestini Last we

-Precious People-
Picture: Massimo Sestini
Last week I got an online call to give me information about the culmination of the Silver Festival “Still Human”.
And suddenly petals and a bouquet appeared on my screen, followed by a trophy and a box with 1kg of silver grains.
I couldn’t believe what I saw.
And again petals and a bouquet. But meanwhile they showed me another vase with silver.

I won 2 prizes with one work, Precious People.
- Special Award for courage, innovation, uncompromising or joking character of the creative expression: „Silver Spur” statuette + 1 kg of silver
- Casting Services award: 0,5 kg of silver

I’ve been thinking about what to do next (after graduating) and what to do with all these grains of silver.
My plan is taking shape and I’ll share it as soon as it’s concrete.

I want to thank the people standing close to me, who are always patient with me and my chaotic life of studying jewellery and a household: Matthias Campo, who supported me more than anyone to continue studying jewellery and who was the first believer of this piece and all my other pieces; Moira Campo, who’s making drawings full of sparkling diamonds for me every day, my mom Marleen for being my mom and gemstone sponsor when I needed it, my teacher @hdededecker for the assignment of making an object full of bling, and my other teachers @hilde.van.der.heyden@ldvk001 @nachtvreugd @irmafoldenyi and @liesbethdenbesten for always pushing me to another level, and @h.wuyts, who told me this is a good piece, despite my babbling; @bernardclaerhout_juwelen for helping me on my quest for recycled silver and recycled gem stones; and my friends who are always and still interested in what I do.
I want to thank the @legnica_silver_festival and @galeria_sztuki_w_legnicy for my first experience to be selected ánd to win 2 awards; #JazekByczewksi for creating a special statuette; #KGHM and @uslugi_odlewnicze for the silver prize.
And a special thanks to @massimo_sestini, the photographer of this World Press Photo 2014, that I’ve seen at the exhibition in Amsterdam, which inspired me since.
If I didn’t mention you, while you were part of the journey: thank you, you’re a gem.

Collage, November 22, 2002. I discovered I knew wh

Collage, November 22, 2002. I discovered I knew what was going to happen when I was 12 years old. It’s funny, because I thought my fascination for trash was something from the last 8 years. But now I realize I was as radicle as a child as today; I was running behind everybody with the trash they threw in public space. Today needs other strategies: “You’ve lost something!” “Really?”
The only difference for me is that it took only one evening to make this collage when I was 12. And now it takes already 3 years I’m working on it and still no result.
#zerowaste #plasticsoup #collage #mindofachild #backin2002 #plasticpollution #climatechange

Color study of drilling holes

Color study of drilling holes

Saying goodbye for the first time. They’re both

Saying goodbye for the first time. They’re both in very good hands! @sieraadartfair @liesbethdenbesten @sintlucasantwerpen #sieraad #sieraadartfair #contemporaryjewellery #authorjewellery

Today I saw the brilliant work of @friedrichkunath

Today I saw the brilliant work of @friedrichkunath. I would say ‘go there!’ But it was the last day at @timvanlaere_tvl So go check him somewhere else. PS: It’s wonderful art for babies too.

Studying Jewellery Design is also drawing a monk v

Studying Jewellery Design is also drawing a monk vulture #monkvulture #painting #illustration #zooantwerpen @sintlucasantwerpen

Yesterday @museumvolkenkunde @karlfritschrings

Yesterday @museumvolkenkunde @karlfritschrings

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