A fairly quiet week this last week but with some notable events, including the opening of the inaugural exhibition at the Vittoria Street Gallery. This is a new enterprise in the School of Jewellery to bring a public contemporary jewellery gallery to the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. Curated by Zoe Robertson, the gallery is calendar is already full until the autumn of 2017, which is brilliant and I am really looking forward to seeing what is exhibited.
The opening show was "In The Loupe" about which I have written previously when it was in Plymouth at Vicky Sewart's gallery there.
The show opened with a series of very short "pecha kucha" type talks by some of the exhibitors, where there were three slides about their practice, each lasting for one minute, which makes for a lively performance.
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| Beaulagh Brooks |
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| Rachael Colley |
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| Jo Pond |
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| Bridie Lander |
A reception followed which was really well-attended and the meet-the-artist aspect was much appreciated by the visitors.
I was invited to a bit of fun this week, too. The MA Jewellery and Related Products students were being introduced to ideas about "extending the body" and changing the way in which the body moves. This session was led by Zoe Robertson - of FlockOMania fame, all about those themes - and was exactly the sort of creative, playful fun that I like to see in the classroom. The students were given rolls of sturdy lining paper and told to create a short performance for their peers in a limited time-frame, which they did with gusto.
Brighton for the weekend where the Artists Open Houses programme was in full swing and I went to visit my ex-colleague and friend, Sam Chilton who was exhibiting with Jez Webb and her sister Michelle Chilton in a gallery on Spring Street. Well worth a visit and it is open weekends until the middle of December.
