Fake news, social networks, and different conspiracies – it is difficult to know what is correct, what is true, and if there is truly only one truth. On May 13 the exhibition The Truth – Mine and Yours opened at the Geological Museum in Ramat Hasharon. The exhibition was curated by Ariel Lavian and organized in collaboration with the Geological Museum, the curator in charge Rachel Sasporta, and the municipality of Ramat Hasharon.

11 artists had been invited to share their views on “Truth”: Ezra Satok Wolman, Dot Melanin, Gigi Mariani , Eden Herman Rosenblum, Kobi Roth, Mari Ishikawa, Lluís Comín Vilajosana, Sofia Björkman, Ruudt Peters, Vered Babai, Uri Samet and I.

Eden Herman Rosenblum, Spondolage, rings made of silver, brass and pine wood. Photo:Michal Sela.

Sofia Björkman, Basketry, necklace made of wood and PLA.
Photo:Michal Sela.

Ruudt Peters, Codex, brooch made of gilded brass and gold-leaf.
Photo:Michal Sela.

Dot Melanin, Lonely Island, Tiger lily, and The camel and the eye of the needle, rings made of onyx, silver, quartz crystal, lichen flower and dandelion seed. Photo:Michal Sela.

Karin Roy Andersson, Exotic Fruits, pendants made of naturally tanned reindeer skin, thread, textile, brass. Photo:Michal Sela.

Mari Ishikawa, Rebirth, brooch made of silver, pearl and silk.
Photo:Michal Sela.

Ezra Satok Wolman, Sagittarius A, brooch made of carbon fiber, 950 platinum, 18kt yellow gold and quartz lens. Photo:Michal Sela.

Lluís Comín Vilajosana, Vestiges, brooches made of silver, gold 750, bronze and fossil. Photo:Michal Sela.

Vered Babai, Broken Circles, objects made of pencil shavings, glue. Photo:Michal Sela.

Uri Samet, A Mere Misunderstanding, ring made of gold colored 3D printed polymer. Photo:Michal Sela.

I showed my pieces made of reindeer skin. The material is closely connected to Duodju (Sami craft) and I was introduced to it during a collaboration with the artist Monica Blind Påve (more about the project here). Working with reindeer skin has brought up questions about cultural appropriation but also about knowledge that gets lost because it is not shared and passed on. Among craftsmen, both in different parts of Sweden and abroad, I have experienced a concern that the craft will die out and a strong desire to share and teach. The “exotic” fruits that I made for the exhibition in Ramat Hasharon are a mix of materials that I have taken from Sami culture, memories from children’s books and summers in the forest, and my own techniques and expressions that I have developed in other materials in earlier work. For example, plastics and silver.

Karin Roy Andersson, Exotic Fruits I-III, pendants made of naturally tanned reindeer skin, thread, textile, brass.

Karin Roy Andersson,Green Exotic Fruits I and II, pendants made of naturally tanned reindeer skin, thread, textile, brass.

The display was built up especially to showcase the jewellery pieces with black elegant tables and mirrors on the walls. A catalog presenting the artists and the theme with texts written by Dr. Rivka Hillel Lavian, Dr Reuven Zahavi, Udi Urman and Ariel Lavian was published and the day after the opening me and three of the other artists; Sofia Björkman, Eden Herman Rosenblum made Uri Samet made an artist talk together with the curators Ariel Lavian and Rachel Sasporta.

Display at the Geological Museum in Ramat Hasharon

Curator Ariel Lavian and the curator in charge Rachel Sasporta. Photo:Michal Sela.

Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem

Shachar Cohen lecturer at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design together with Sofia Björkman and Ariel Lavian. 

Lecture at Shenkar College of Engineering Design and Art, Tel Aviv.

Besides the exhibition, my trip to Israel also included two visits and lectures at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem and Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art in Tel Aviv. Both students, teachers and other artists came to listen and seeing their friendly faces, hearing them talking in a language I don’t understand and  immediately sensing a strong feeling of connection that overwhelms all language barriers, made me realize why I love what I do and why jewellery is such a fantastic form of art!

Happy jewellery artists: Naama Bergman, Shachar Cohen, Einat Leader, Vered Kaminski and Sofia Björkman

 Until next time – me and Sofia in front of the Dead Sea

The trip to Israel was supported by: