Antipasto Manifesto

Over here in jewellery-land, we are excited about what is happening. We are emerging makers who are establishing practices, studying techniques, reading contemporary theory and thinking about our craft’s rich and complex history. We are experimenting with new materials and technologies, ideas about adornment, wearability, sustainability, and community. We are indebted to galleries who show object based work and have elevated the status of jewellery in this country, but most of us are unknown and uncertain of our place in those ranks. Jewellery is intrinsically about the relationship with the body. We pursue projects that are about shedding artistic pretense, and bravely embracing the community aspect of our craft.

We are dedicated to the establishment of experimental practices and committed to supporting handmade objects. We promote the idea of dignity of labour and are conscientiously working to prevent the extinction of traditional craft skills. We are readdressing the issues that Ruskin and Morris brought up in contemporary ways. We look for new means of relating to and infiltrating our local communities. We are not afraid to stand on the shoulders of jewellery giants. We think it necessary to enrich our craft.

We think that the future for craft lies somewhere between the art institutions or established craft organizations and the alternative craft organizations. Our craft has the energy, attitude and motivation of alternative craft and the attention to quality and concept demanded from institutions. We undauntedly look for new arenas of experimentation and new ways of making. We are enthralled with the idea of open source design. We are interested in interrelationships between: the wearer and maker, the wearer and world, between makers, and the maker and world.

We are interested in politics but that is not what our work is about. We support alternative craft communities but that the purpose of our work. We are fun, we are smart, we are green, we are engaged, we are committed to our craft and our work reflects it. We prioritize quality experimentation and relationships over commerce. We are a force. We are the future of jewellery.