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Jewellery Design Students Bedazzle at Old Court House Museum

Jewellery Design Students Bedazzle at Old Court House Museum

DUT Jewellery Design students got a lifetime opportunity to showcase their talent to a wider audience during an exciting collaborative architecture, culture and heritage project hosted by the Durban Old Court House Museum from 5 August until 30 September 2014.

The 47 students are showcasing their dazzling original jewellery works at the The Old Court House Museum which were inspired by Durban’s art deco architecture and Phansi Museum artefacts.

The exhibition provides prospective designers from DUT with a platform for the sale of their work with some of the funds being contributed to ARROWSA, an arts, culture and heritage for peace non-profit organisation, to enable pupils from Bechet High School to attend the international INDRA Congress for Youth in 2015.

Chris de Beer, Head of DUT’s Department of Fine Art and Jewellery Design said, “In the Jewellery Design Programme at DUT, we place great importance on the use of references when designing. We find that students often have a lack of visual references at their disposal, which results in them resorting to Google image thumbnails or vague recollections of images from music videos or movies. Students now make use of visual references as well as culturally relevant objects.”

BTech Jewellery Design student, Roisin Shevlin, who is currently showcasing her work at the museum, said inspiration for her work came from the lotus flower. The flower is Thailand’s most common flower. “I made my designs really symmetrical to match with the art deco theme. After completing my BTech, my friend and I plan to open a business where jewellers can come and work because tools are expensive so we want to create a work space for jewellers to come and work from,” she said.

Also speaking at the opening of the exhibition, Director of the international Arts for Peace IDRA Congress; David Oddie (MBE) said, “Art helps us to see things in a way that we have never seen before, and to break it down, and that is what we are trying to do with this wonderful, inspirational young people.”

De Beer concluded, saying that it was important for DUT to participate in events like this. “It’s wonderful to have this museum as a resource because we just walk past here and wonder what is inside, so now we know and I think we are going to start spending more time here,” he chuckled.

Collections range from R150 onwards. The exhibition closes on Tuesday 30 September 2014 at 4:00pm. For more information, contact the Old Court House Museum on (031) 311 2226/7.

-Waheeda Peters

Pictured: DUT Jewellery Design students Roisin Shevlin, Zolutho Dudumashe and Georgina Taylor at the opening of the exhibition. Also pictured is some of the jewellery on display.

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