San Antonio, Texas, USA—Artwork Jewellery Discussion board (AJF) is happy to announce that the Susan Beech Mid-Profession Artist Fellowship, the biggest artwork jewellery money prize within the USA, has been awarded to Khanya Mthethwa, an award-winning jewellery designer born in Kwa-Zulu Natal. she is at the moment working as a tutorial on the College of Johannesburg, South Africa. The 2 finalists of the award are Chilean artist, designer and jeweler. rita sotoand Canadian multidisciplinary artist and jeweler Catherine Blackburn.

The grant will assist a challenge that blends African jewelery with the applied sciences of the fourth industrial revolution. The end result will show using 3D printing to revamp designs of indigenous cultural objects. The artist will produce extremely refined jewelery and ornaments. The challenge goals to showcase examples of what South African/African modern jewellery and ornaments might be, educate the patron about South African/African modern jewellery, and perceive the way it will influence jewellery market traits within the African diaspora. Mthethwa will obtain a $20,000 money grant to provide the challenge.

Mthethwa holds a grasp’s diploma in design and certifications for tough diamond analysis and diamond slicing. He passionately advocates for the expansion of jewelery in South Africa and is the driving pressure behind the institution of South African Jewelery Week, the primary platform of its type for designers in South Africa geared toward attracting potential clients. nation. Mthethwa is at the moment a PhD candidate in artwork historical past in her closing 12 months on the College of Johannesburg. When she’s not immersed in her research and lectures, she takes on the position of Founder and CEO of Altering Aspects, an organization specializing in modern, wearable artwork jewellery impressed by indigenous cultures of the African continent.

The distinguished jury for the 2023 Susan Beech Mid-Profession Artist Fellowship consisted of the AJF founder and collector. Susan Cummins (WE); curator and historian LaMar Gayles (WE); and jewelery historian, curator, and creator Beatriz Chadour-Sampson (England).

Susan Beech: “I used to be impressed by the idea of integrating fashionable know-how with conventional South African aesthetics to reinvent cultural designs, and the challenge’s intention to spark a dialog amongst African designers about how they’ll switch the heritage to modern jewelry.”

LaMar Gayles: “Attention-grabbing manipulation and use of conventional and modern supplies. The challenge can affect a variety of artists and discover nationwide themes of jewelery design processes that may then inform worldwide processes extra broadly by way of strategies to nurture the design course of primarily based on context.

Beatriz Chadour-Sampson: “It is a very sturdy competitor, there’s little data and analysis on native African jewellery, and modern African jewellery is slowly evolving – the challenge might be a superb stepping stone.”

Susan Cummins: “This challenge of a South African who needs to unfold modern jewelery to his neighborhood is improbable. It combines the newest know-how with home functions blended with trend displays. He needs to learn to do that in order that he can move it on to others. He additionally states that with these works, he’ll enchantment to a shopper viewers.”

Khanya Mthethwa: “Gratitude is the signal of noble spirits. I’m deeply grateful to have been chosen for the Susan Beech Mid-Profession Grant and am humbled to be a part of such a prestigious program. This chance will sow seeds of hope for individuals who come after me and make sure that their desires come true and that nothing is unimaginable.”

The aim of the Susan Beech Mid-Profession Artist Fellowship is to acknowledge a mid-career artist who has made vital contributions to the sector and to offer sources for the artist to develop and implement an vital jewelery-related challenge. has no different authority to undertake.

About AJF
The Artwork Jewellery Discussion board is a non-profit group that has been elevating consciousness and appreciation for artwork jewellery all over the world since 1997. Its various neighborhood of artists, collectors, critics, educators, galleries, historians, makers and writers are united by a ardour for artwork jewellery. AJF advocates for artwork jewellery with an formidable agenda of schooling, public talking and monetary assist. It commissions and publishes important writings that set the usual of excellence within the discipline. artjewelryforum.orgAn Web useful resource for unique content material on artwork jewellery.