ABOUT HANDSHAKE 4
Ruudt Peters did the selection for the two-year HS4 project (2017 – 2018). Twelve mentees were paired by him with renowned mentors from international practices. The HS4 programme began with a Masterclass led by Estonian artist Tanel Veenre, who introduced and exercised internal and external presentation methods to inspire creative presentations for galleries and online. Exhibitions were held at Pah Homestead, Auckland in October 2017 (with LEANINGS), Toi Poneke, Wellington in March 2018 (with PROCESS), Corban Estate Arts Centre in October 2018 (with POLARISED), and an online exhibition at the HANDSHAKE Project website. HS4 artists got feedback from Laura Kalman about their exhibition PROCESS at Toi Poneke. The exhibition design was coordinated by Gabby O’Conner (Wellington artist), with a challenging jewellery presentation.
The HS4 project ended in December 2018 to make way for HANDSHAKE 5. The HS8 artists were selected by the CODA museum team from candidates for all HS projects.
HS4 was a great testing ground for the artists. The masterclass and lectures became the bases for successful exhibitions at renowned venues. Many of the HS4 artists went on as independent artists and are now practising artists with serious art practices.
HS4 programme is the equivalent of a Masters’s programme that focuses on practical learning with professional outcomes like exhibiting and being capable as a practising artist.
The combination package of mentoring and exhibition is unique to the contemporary craft-art world.
dealer galleries. The project takes advantage of online communication technologies that enable the mentees to develop and refine their practice alongside their mentors in a virtual studio space. A significant part of the project is the mentee’s process recording through the HS4 blogs, in which they present their ideas, demonstrate their research processes, design and making, self-reflections, struggles, and celebrations, search for deep philosophical connections, explored possibilities, and edits of solutions. Their blog pages also include why they chose their mentor, summaries of feedback and advice, extracts from mentor publications, press reviews, and interviews, making for a rich reading experience.
“….Contemporary jewellery is shaped by a distinct awareness of the situation in which it exists…”*
*Damian Skinner, “What is contemporary jewellery” in Contemporary Jewellery in Perspective ed Damian Skinner. Published by Art Jewelry Forum Mill Valley California, 2013. pg. 11
