In March 2017 I had the pleasure of working with an amazing group of visiting professional jewellers from Indonesia. They were participating in an Australia Short Course Awards Indonesia, for International Business Readiness in Jewellery Design. I had met the participants in Surabaya the previous year, and it was great to welcome them to Australia. 

During the program we visited a range of businesses to gain an insight into Australian business practices. The participants were introduced to local jewellers and some of the key organisations that support practice in Queensland. 

You can read an article I wrote about the program here Perhiasan = Jewellery

Garland Magazine was launched late last year as an online magazine "to encourage a dialogue across the Asia Pacific about the objects that give our lives meaning." Kevin Murray, Olivia Pintos-Lopez and Damien Wright are the editorial team members. The first issue published articles from 30 writers covering a wide range of perspectives in relation to thinking about craft.

I recommend having a read and I also suggest you consider subscribing - it isn't essential to access Garland, but it will support this important initiative.

Annual subscriptions, are affordable at $AUD 40, and enable special access to the quarterly essays. Subscriptions go towards commissioning future essays and supporting cultural dialogue around what we make.

You'll find Garland Magazine here

In association with the launch of Garland Magazine, the inaugural online exhibition Intimate Imensities was launched. Above is the picture of my work included in the exhibition.

The exhibition was curated by Olivia Pintos-Lopez, and brings together works from 23 artists from the Asia Pacific in the virtual online gallery.  The artists are: Susan Robey | Ian Mowbray | Rosa Hawker | Varuni Kanagasundaram | Damien Wright | Anna Gray | Andrew Stinear | Nalda Searles | Amelina Trainor | Andrew Baldwin | Andrea Mina | Caroline Baum | Clare McCracken | Vicki Mason | Julie Blyfield | Elizabeth Shaw | Paola Moreno | WALKA | this.means.that studio | Melissa Cameron | Trudy Golley | Inup Park | Juree Kim

Here is the callout for the next exhibition:

Calling Second Home - exhibition for Garland #2 
While home is something many of us take for granted, it is fact of life, if not history, that we will change our primary shelter. Human, animal and plant life is littered with discarded shells. Techniques can evolve to re-purpose these, such as the shell money from the Solomon Islands, that is arranged in beautiful necklaces. To explore the creative uses of real and metaphoric shells, Garland is calling for works to its next online exhibition, Second Home. See here for more details.