Aotearoa Exchange group performed a unique presentation that opened SCHMUCKmuenchen 2026 at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, on Friday, 6 March. The project brought together more than forty wearable works by twenty Handshake Project alumni artists. Six performers...

Aotearoa Exchange is presented and performed by Mia Straka, Jessica Winchcombe, Grace Yu Piper, Hilda Gascard, Lisa van Hulst, and Peter Deckers on Fr 06 March 2026, at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. The project brings more than forty wearable works by HANDSHAKE...

A Journey of Innovation and Community (2011–April 2025) - By Peter  Deckers    Looking back on my time leading the Handshake Project (HS)—from its modest beginnings in 2010 to its conclusion in April 2025—I see a journey defined by transformation. What started as a...

It’s so nice to have this blog space to expand on the creative thoughts around this project.  So often we are limited to a certain word-count for artist statements.  For the record, that’s not a complaint - concise statements have their place, but I think 2 years of...

ex HS6 artists presented their group exhibition MINUMENTAL at Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne as part of the Radiant Pavilion Contemporary Jewellery and Object Biennale 2024. Following its debut at Nelson Jewellery Week (Aotearoa) in 2023, this second iteration...

When I began my handshake journey I was a stone carver. I love the materiality of stone and its connection to the natural world. I gravitate towards reductive ways of working and enjoy the meditative process of carving. I’ve always been a forager and I love rock...

Sincerely Yours is the last in a what has become a three part series. It began with an exploration of identity and our human need for belonging, through my initial work titled Dear Public. Last year, as my work developed for our first handshake show, I realised what I...

To heal; heal the waters.      My work through HANDSHAKE8 explores themes of talisman, place, land, healing of matrilineal lines by...

 Last year, Dear Maker contained a sealed confessional box called “Communion”. This piece facilitated a way for the audience to exercise the acknowledgement, expression and release of shame though written confessions. This year began with the burning of this...

This my artwork created for the final Handshake 8 exhibition 'Materlise', present by the Handshake Project at the Artshouse Trust, Pah Homestead, Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau. The exhibition runs from 8 November 2024 - 16 February 2025. The piece is called 'Desire Lines',...