This year Munich Jewellery Week (MJW16) started on my birthday on the February 23. I could have not imagined a better present then having my name on the exhibiting artist list. The number #28 in the headline stands for our number in the Current Obsession map, made exclusively for MJW16.
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| First Latte at the Lost Weekend |
I was the first to visit the Hatara Project exhibition Time Perception last year. It turned out to be a fateful visit for me because thanks to that and another meeting with Annea Lounatvuori in Riga I had the chance to become a part of the Hatara Project. I feel like I should explain what does Hatara Project mean but I’m not sure I can do this properly because it started as a collaboration between Annea Lounatvuori and Christine Jalio last year. I guess I could call this a group of contemporary jewellery artists. This year Annea and Christine decided to invite Helmi Lindblom (Finland), Melina Lindroos (Finland), Wiebke Pandikow (Germany/Finland) and me – Ginta Grube (Zabarovska) (Latvia) to join them in their project. As I see it the exhibition had a wide view on time perception in six various interpretations. We will see were this collaboration will lead us in future.
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| Ginta Grube (Zabarovska) Making off 23/02/2016 |
The opening night was on February 24. Me together with Christine and her mother had a long day at the gallery and Annea joined us a few hours before the opening. I was so happy to see many people visiting our exhibition especially because most of the exhibitions within MJW16 were opening at the same time. Thank you jewellery artists Yiumsiri Kaï Vantanapindu and Marine Dominiczak for visiting. Of course the biggest thank you Camille who hosted me in Munich! Was a great pleasure to meet Päivi Ruutiainen PhD, art critic (FI) who has wrote for the book Hibernate, that got launched during MJW16. And a lot more (about 500) great people came to visit us on the opening night and the following three days.
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| Current Obsession magazine street sign for Time Perception vol.2 |
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| From the opening of Time Perception vol.2 Ari Niskanen with a ring by Annea Lounatvuori |
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| From the opening of Time Perception vol.2 Annea Lounatvuori and Yiumsiri Vantanapindu |
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| From the opening of Time Perception vol.2 Ginta Grube (Zabarovska), Christine Jalio, Annea Lounatvuori |
I was participating in the exhibition with two brooches from the collection “Liepajas street” (2011), a pendant from the collection “Time Zones” (2013) and three pieces from my collection “Home” (2014-2016). I chose these pieces because they where all in a close context to the theme Time Perception. I am doing an internship in Strasbourg for the moment and I feel traveling in close contact with time and the way I perceive it.
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| Ginta Grube (Zabarovska) “Home” Made in Alsace 2016 |
The two recent pieces where made with a great help of my tutor for the time being – Yiumsiri Vantanapindu. She is a great artist working with metal and ceramics and she introduced me to porcelain. Her work was exhibited widely within MJW16 in the Handwerk & Design expo at the ATTA gallery display.
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| Ginta Grube (Zabarovska) “Home” Made in Alsace (2016) model: Marine |
The long porcelain beads remind me of the insect curtain we used to have in my grandparents house when I was a child. I was so fascinated by the sound they made when walked through and the fragmented texture I would play with holding it in my hands. So I made a brooch without a pin, that you can simply hook behind your collar, and it produces the sound and the structure of the curtain from my grandparents house.
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| Ginta Grube (Zabarovska) “Liepajas street” (2011) |
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| Ginta Grube (Zabarovska) “Time Zones” (2013) |
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| Ginta Grube (Zabarovska) “Home” Made in Alsace 2016 the back of the necklace |
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| Ginta Grube (Zabarovska) exhibition view |
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| Annea Lounatvuori “Chinatown” |
Annea’s collection China Town was a lot more voluminous then her last years work. She still kept the horse hair as a characterizing element in her work but instead of adding Plexiglas and wood she used various materials one can find in a hardware store. The inspiration for the massive and brave performance by Annea come 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. Annea was wearing one of her necklaces as we set and eat our schnitzels in the Augustinerkeller “GOLDSCHMIEDETREFFEN” (that is a big dinner for all the Schmuck visitors). She begun to acknowledge the implementation of her idea by sensing the actual piece.
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| Annea Lounatvuori and Janne Lounatvuori at The Dinnerin the Augustinerkeller “GOLDSCHMIEDETREFFEN” Thank’s to Janne for helping to take down the exhibition |
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| Annea Lounatvuori “Chinatown” |
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| Annea Lounatvuori “Chinatown” |
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| Annea Lounatvuori (image from the author’s personal archive) |
As Christine Jalio explains – collection “Loss” is a continuum of her earlier “Past, Loss, Future” collection which tells the story of aging and loneliness. The theme sounds so Finnish I can’t avoid mentioning our conversation with Christine were we discussed the polar night impact on northern population. People are affected by the dark period and they actually appear sad and contemplative. Christine lives in a small town Lapua and has recently lost here father. For me her new collection tends to collapse and relates with ruins. This illustrates the theme “Loss” quite straightforward. People seem fascinated by the mild forms of silk clay that she handles so well. Some associate her pieces with candy but oddly the works speak of death.
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| Christine Jalio “Loss” |
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| Pop-up store in the Galerie Vernon |
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| Christine Jalio |
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| Christine Jalio “Past, Loss, Future” (image from the author’s personal archive) Special thanks to Christine’s mother (the lovely lady in the picture) she was an indispensable assistant at the gallery |
Melina’s Lindroos “Hiding Places” seem to attract attention with their simplicity and a binding performance. Her collection consists of seven pins. In her search of forms she used avocado peel. The diversity and genius of natural forms and their simplicity ceases to amaze. I never had the chance to meet Melina in person but the subtle forms and clarity of her work generates good thoughts. “Hiding places” talks about the feeling of safety. Melina is approaching time perception “through a slow meditative process” – she explains. Hiding and safety are related to the slowing down or avoidance of time. The viewer is about tobecome aware of time through the visual and physical senses as Melina invites to peek inside and hold the pieces.
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| Melina Lindroos “Hiding Places” |
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| Melina Lindroos “Hiding Places” (image from the author’s personal archive) |
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| Melina Lindroos “Hiding Places” (image from the author’s personal archive) |
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| Helmi Lindblom “Come” |
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| Helmi Lindblom “Come” (image from the author’s personal archive) |
I find Wiebke Pankow’s work the most lyrical and romantic compared to all the rest from Hatara Project. Wiebke says – what was living organisms thousands of years ago, became oil, then became plastic, now returns to forms that resemble living plants once more. It’s clear that she is talking about a time-consuming process that she symbolically continues. Wiebke has brought plastic bags to the edge by turning them into flower and worm like images. I could describe the work by Wiebke with the words of a visitor who wrote in our guest book – the jewelry made of wood and plastic is very poetic and intelligent.
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| Wiebke Pankow (image from the author’s personal archive) |
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| Wiebke Pankow exhibition view |
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| Thank you Galerie Vernon for having us! |