This is an article about the artist collective Hatara Project and their ongoing exhibition series Time Perception. In year 2015 Christine Jalio and Annea Lounatvuori organized their first solo show in Munich. Back then they knew little about how Hatara would grow in the following years. I have also become a part of the collective and have written about our meeting in previous articles as Jewellery in Munich 2015 and Hatara Project, T
ime Perception VOL.2 #28 . This time I want to look at five consecutive exhibitions under the same title Time Perception (in some sources Time Perceptions).
Here I made a timeline with the help of infogram providing an overview on the previous exhibitions in Munich .
As I am a part of this project I might have a biased opinion but my very goal is to document and then to analyze if possible.
The interesting factor is how one can follow the development of each participating artist over a five year perspective. But the negative aspect for this kind of analysis is that only two af the members have participated in all five events. There are 14 different members participating in total. 2 of them have participated all years, 4 of them have participated all but first year and one has participated 3 times, one 2 times and 6 artists participated only once in 2017. The chronological number of participants goes like this 2 – 6 – 13 – 8 – 8. The reason of these numbers is quite explainable and practical. The first year it was two friends, fellow artists bringing their graduation work to the next level. The second year they invited three of their schoolmates and one random person they met in the first years opening (me). The third year came with a bigger exhibition space. So to fill it all up each of the previous year artists invited a friend. As the venue dictates a lot in terms of the exhibiting possibilities the forth year left space for only eight members, so called “core group” from previous years and one invited artist. The fift year didn’t bring changes to the group of participants.
There are a lot of Pros and Cons for working in an international artist group. One of the major challenges was as simple as communication. As far as 21st century goes it was possible to contact and to organize everything. There were several other hitches as in every group of people going for a common goal. Someone has family problems, someone – health issues. There are always leaders and ones who go with the flow and sometimes the proportions of the work done are not homogeneous but it must be reckoned with. But the experience gained is undeniable and the more you interact the more you benefit.
More about the artists involved. I am not going to copy-paste their artist statements and CV’s here but I can give a list of the artists with suggestions for further reading.
In the following paragraph I use parts from a text written by me for the exhibition in 2017. Anke Huyben investigates the beauty standards, body postures, adornment and wearability through her work. Marine Dominiczak is working in close connection with the body as well – questioning the human being and the perception of its body inside the society. Christine Jalio and Annea Lounatvuori are the Hatara -project founders, for Christine contemporary jewellery is a rebellious art with no actual rules or true limits. Anneas jewellery pieces on the other hand are often inspired by the memories and feelings of her experiences. She is also the founder of PONY jewelry. Ginta Grube is an artist and researcher seeking to enrich the analysis of jewellery art and perception. She uses various materials that come to her path by accident and combines them with silver. Elin Flognman takes interest in our desire to escape everyday life. Her artistic amibition is to find the point of intersection between the familiar and the extraordinary. Wiebke Pandikow has a mind for green thinking. She continues to use recycled plastic bags in her work, these symbols for mindless consumerism and a throw-away society. Helmi Lindblom starts her working process from playing with materials she has at home, mixing different media leads her wherever it is necessary to go, just like Yasuyo Hida who approaches her work through experimenting with material. Jelizaveta Suska is The Herbert Hofmann Prize 2016 winner, her pieces are a lot about feelings of nostalgia, of a moment in time. Melina Lindroos jewellery is a reflection of her surroundings and thoughts and with them she hopes to evoke a calm and peaceful feeling in the viewer. Susanna Yläranta is passionate to create and guide new events and concepts in the field of contemporary jewellery. Sara Malm is the winner of the JPLUS Graduate Award 2016. She works with three materials – wood, metal and leather – different qualities that feel comfortable in her hand. “I believe in my hands. They made this work possible. When I trust them magic arises.” says Sara. Malene Kastalje is a Danish contemporary jewellery artist. She has a background as an experimental designer. Her jewellery is rich in colour and reminiscent of corals.
Unfortunately in year 2017, when we had the biggest exposition, there was supposed to be Morven Downies work as well. But due to post office issues her work never made it to Munich. In some sources her name appears when looking for information about Time Perception VOL.3.
Now that I have mentioned each of the variables I can continue with individual analysis.
Thanks to Annea Lounatvuori I have joined this project and I have to say she is one amaizing artist. We met with Annea in the exhibition opening in 2015. She was working with horse hair and Plexiglas and silver. After our first meeting in Munich we kept in contact and she happened to be traveling through my home town Riga and we met again. We went to have a drink and talked a lot about the way we see the jewellery art field in general and how we see our work in future. We both agreed on many ideas such as – education is most important and innovative thinking is crucial for education. We also talked about commercial projects and how many artists share the opinion that if you work with a commercial brand you kind of sell your self to the consumers. This was the time she was working active with her brand PONY. We both agreed that it is absolutely normal and even good to work on a brand and continue to develop other separate art projects as Annea was doing at the time.
Anneas’s work was and is bold and voluminous. In her jewellery pieces she emphasize the materials used. For example using horse tail she highlights the free fall of the tail. Using plexiglas she exploits the kitsch, colours and the light games that the material provides. Next year in 2016 she presented a completely new collection called Chinatown. She still kept the horse hair as a characterizing element in her work also using various materials from a hardware store. The inspiration for the massive and brave performance by Annea came from her trip to New York and her getting lost in Chinatown. She did not hesitate to share her experience in the despair and fear she felt while being lost and crying like an abandoned child. The message is not to be afraid of being afraid – she explained. (The last four sentences come from a previous text I wrote about the exhibition).
One of the best qualities Annea holds is the ability to work clean and professional with whatever material she holds her hands on. In the third exhibition in 2017 she presented fine and sensitive interrelationships between geometry and nature.
We never know what life will bring after the next corner and a close family member of Anneas turned out to have Alzheimer ́s disease. Loosing someone close – not physically but emotionally and mentally – over a longer period of time, has taught her a lot about herself, she says. Her jewellery always expresses deep humane feelings and experiences she has gathered over time. Her collection out of egg shells was tonally soft and tasteful. Many visitors were excited about the ability to express such feelings as collapse, inability to resist and fragility through jewellery pieces. This is yet another proof of contemporary jewellery going hand in hand with contemporary art. The jewelery was made of genuine egg shells and, of course, they were to be gradually shattered.
The last eshibition Time Perceptions vol.5 was an experiment for all the artists. We agreed on building common jewellery pieces. One piece had each of the 8 artists interract with it. And several other pieces were made in pairs. The result was an experiment of course, but I have to say that the experience was worth it. Each artist also presented their individual work as well. Unfortunately the last exhibition was also the only one I didn’t get to visit in person. So these works I have seen only in photos. From the first gaze the brooch looks like candy. A bunch of candy sticked alltogether with the packaging. The title of the piece is Infused Memory, and Annea speaks about some old photos she found with her mother when she was in her early twenties. She saw the photos for the first time and they revealed an unknown page of her mothers life. In the photos she looked very happy, bubbling with joy and so does the jewellery. Anneas work stays deeply personal as always.
Christine Jalio had a great debut at the Munich Jewellery Week 2015 with her silk clay brooches and necklaces. This was a very bold and promessing start. Christine had produced a a solid ground for herself in the jewellery art scene but at the same time it was quite a chalenge to continue without repeating herself.
In the following year (2016) Christine used contrast and experimented with fragmentation. The perfect silk clay sculptural forms were difficult to intervene with. Christine was and is very professional and I have to mention that her workmanship was always worked out to the last detail. Work with silver goes smooth for her. Christines silk clay brooches were on sale at a separate table togather with Anneas PONY jewellery.
Interesting that in 2017 both Annea and Christine started using raw objects from the nature or found objects in their work. By that time Christines silk clay brooches had becoma almost a classic in contemporary jewellery. A lot of people prefered the bright colours as the sunny (lemon) yellow.
In the exhibition Time Perception vol.4 Christine decided to step into a completely new river. She refused to use the material she trusted and knew so well, maybe too well – silk clay – and tried to look back to her roots with some old techniques.
As Christine says about her work in the beginning of 2019 – This series was born out of contradiction, polarity and antonyms -all negative becoming something positive. Like a cocoon with a strangely beautiful, strong and tough moth that is still evolving and showing you its middle finger on the way out – Christine compares. The new collection depicts the artist’s personality, she has a strong character and stedy as a rock when most needed. She is not afraid to experiment and make a joke even at the most serious of times.
There is one other person in Hatara Project thad we all definitely owe for the invested work to produce maximum returns. She is Helmi Lindblom, also from Lahti, Finland. Her approach to jewellery is more playful and experimental material-ways. My first meeting was with her work, not the person. I have to say I was surprised. From the background were I come from (Art Academy of Latvia, Metal design department) jewellery must never be secured with glue or resin materials and silver or other metal is recommended for jewellery fittings. The view might be a bit outdated but still sometimes I highly respect the core values in jewellery art. That doesn’t mean I always follow them. But Helmis collection had such freedom that I partly envy – in a good way. I somehow learned that a little Pollock in your jewellery can do no harm or on the contrary it can save the day.
One thing we all agreed on was the need of high quality photos and in 2017 Helmi mastered this perfectly. Her photoshoot with Ninni Vidgren and Josephine as model was a perfect hit. Her work was the “face” of Hatara Project in social network and on-line sites that year.
From year 2018 I have just a few photos, so not a very good one with Helmis work. But in building the exposition Time Perception vol.4 she put so much effort that I feel I can’t thank enough. For the first time we refused to use milk paper and Helmi designed custom black frames for the exposition. Her work had more ground colours and she wasn’t shy to talk about the news in her life – a child. Apart from the exposition she also continued her work with photography and she is the author of Hatara Project publicity photos with cotton candy, that is the literal translation of Hatara Project. There were several very good shots so we used photos for posters and all other materials from the photoshoot the following years as well. Also our Hatara Project page has come alive thanks to Helmi and others as well of course.
Helmi continued to surprise with her capability in the beginning of 2019. The venue presented some difficulties – the exhibition had to be built in a very small space + it was a street window. But Helmi didn’t hesitate and thought of a good solution exposing pieces on small round boards adding extra pointed light. About her art works in Time Perceptions vol.5, Helmi explains her jewellery pieces circle around personal feelings, surprising materials, color and tactility. The last one I feel (literaly and figuratively) in all her work through the years. She also states that touchable art is a way to bring art closer to everyday life and that is what she is doing all the time.
I haven’t mentioned all the artists equally, but I hope this article will await a second part and I will continue with others as well.
In the end you can see the full table with details about the exhibitions. Thank you for reading! Please contact me for any mistakes in the article!
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| Title | Zeichen der Zeit – Time perception | Time Perception VOL.2 | Time Perception VOL.3 | Time Perception Vol.IIII | Time Perceptions 5 |
| Sites | CURRENT OBSESSION | ginta.lv | ginta.lv | video | klimt02.net |
| Date and time | 10.3.2015 – 14.3.2015 Opening 10.03.2015 19:00 – 22:00 Wed-Fri 10:00 – 19:00 Sat 11:00 – 16:00, Sun closed | 24.02.2016 – 27.02.2016
Opening 24.02 19:00-22:00 Thu, Fri 11:00-19:00, Sat 12:00-17:00 |
08.03.2017-11.03.2017
Opening 08.03 19:00 |
07.03.2018 – 10.03.2018 Opening: Wednesday 7.3.2018 from 19.00 to 22.00 | 14.03.2019-17.03.2019. Opening: 14.03 17:00-20:00
Regular hours: Fri 10:00-18:00 Sat 10:00-18:00 |
| Location | Kunsthaus Maximilian, Maximilianstr. 54, 80538 Munich | Galerie Vernon, Blütenstraße 1, Munich | Artspace Lovaas , Fürstenstraße 6, 80333 München | FOER Ateljier
Fürstenstraße 6 F (backyard) 80333 Munich |
Autohaus Schwanthalerhöhe, Ligsalzstraße 17 |
| Participants | Annea Lounatvuori, Christine Jalio | Annea Lounatvuori, Christine Jalio, Helmi Lindblom, Melina Lindroos, Wiebke Pandikow, Ginta Grube | Annea Lounatvuori, Christine Jalio, Helmi Lindblom, Melina Lindroos, Wiebke Pandikow, Ginta Grube, Jelizaveta Suska, Elin Flognman, Anke Huyben, Marine Dominiczak, Yasuyo Hida, Sara Malm, Susanna Yläranta, Morven Downie | Annea Lounatvuori, Christine Jalio, Helmi Lindblom, Melina Lindroos, Wiebke Pandikow, Ginta Grube, Jelizaveta Suska, Malene Kastalje | Annea Lounatvuori, Christine Jalio, Helmi Lindblom, Melina Lindroos, Wiebke Pandikow, Ginta Grube, Jelizaveta Suska, Malene Kastalje |
| Short description | The work of two young jewellery designers and artist from Finland. Under the alias Hatara Project, A. Lounatvuori and C. Jalio will present their personal visions with the title. The exhibition is also part of their Thesis work for the Lahti Institute of Design from where they will be graduating in May 2015. | A.Lounatvuori and C. Jalio return to Munich this year, this time with more international background. The six jewellery artists will revisit Hatara Project’s theme of last year, Time Perception, with a wide array of pieces in different styles and materials. | In year 2017 Hatara Project was about to gather a wider group of artists. The participants in Time Perception VOL.3 were all invited by someone from the previous year’s group. So we were all friends and like-minded jewellery artists. | Hatara Project is back in Munich and returning to Munich Jewelry Week with pieces telling tales of memory and misunderstanding, of crystallized moments and home and the need for simple joys, of the sea and things left at the edge of it. | It was 5 years ago that Annea Lounatvuori and Christine Jalio first appeared at Munich Jewellery Week with Hatara, which makes this year a special anniversary for us. Hatara has certainly grown over this time, from originally 2 to the 8 artists that make up Hatara today. |