DUT’s Jewellery Design Department hosted the allspicedup jewellery design exhibition.

The exhibition took place at the University’s Art Gallery, Steve Biko Campus, which celebrated the rich and colourful Indian culture in Durban.

The exhibition, which ends on Friday, 28 February 2015, showcased jewellery designed and manufactured by the programme’s second and third year students, with all jewellery at the exhibition being offered for sale.

The annual exhibition, which has different themes yearly, is part of students’ Work Integrated Learning (WIL) learning and also forms part of the course’s community engagement programme. A percentage of the sale is donated to assist pupils from Bachet High School, Sydenham, Durban, to attend an international congress.

This year, 10 third year students and eleven second year students participated in the exhibition.
“This year, we decided to celebrate Indian culture in Durban. Students designed and made jewellery based on traditional Indian jewellery,” said DUT Jewellery Design Lecturer, Marlene De Beer.
Third Year Jewellery Design student, Seshnee Moodley, said she “thoroughly enjoyed” the project. “Finalising designs was quite a long process as new ideas came about through time at the workbench. My inspiration came from my life and history itself. Being of Indian decent, paisley patterns and mendhi designs adhered naturally to me. Through explorations of these patterns and forms, I finalised my design. Existing pieces of Indian jewellery also gave me inspiration in certain details of my piece. The attractive pink colour in my piece was inspired by my culture’s bright use of colours in clothing, jewellery and the home itself,” said Moodley.
Nimitha Ghirao, a third year student, saidf she was inspired by Henna designs. She chose to use the teardrop shape and parsley motif because of their symbolic meaning in Hindu culture. The total price of her collection is R2740, which includes a nose ring, neck piece and head piece. She plans to pursue a BTech degree based on henna designs and start her own jewellery line one day

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– Mxolisi Ntanzi

Pictured: Some of the designs featured at the allspicedup exhibition at the DUT Art Gallery. The exhibition was hosted and organised by the DUT Jewellery Design Department.