Kecskés Orsolya

A shelter means different for anybody. Wearing jewelry, one should like to attract attention; others, maybe, want to hide behind his/her ornaments. Four goldsmiths made a team to define, using their objects, what does ‘shelter’ term: the freedom of though, the words behind that we can hide, the salvaged past objects making security for us, the nature where you can escape from the noise of the city, and the fantasy world to retreat… “For our joint Budapest exhibition we published a book, presenting interesting people.”

“At the Munich Jewellery Week our photographer presented this book to the bookseller, participating yearly in the festival. He said: “Michael is a charming man!” When we introduced our objects at the Week, we brought (of course) the book, and we wanted to get to know “ charming Michael”. The evening reception of the international jewellery exhibition was full of participants, and we were looking for Michael. It took time until we detected him. However, the athletic, bold-shaved gentleman wearing thick, black-rimmed glasses said: he is certainly not Michael.”

“The five-member party of ours continued the search passionately. It turned out soon that the men in general liked to get rid of their thinning hair, so we localized a series of elegant gentlemen of baldhead soon. It was a good evening program for us.”

Search is fundamental for them. She thought on it and on Michael, when she hid a pearl into tekla beads, an onyx plate into the circle of copper petals, and a golden grain into the galvanized hematite ones. “Our domestic people expect a jewelry made of precious metal or stone. However, the contemporary jewelry prefers the design”

At the time of Napoleon III silver leaves hidden in aluminum plates would represent a completely different value. That time aluminum was more expensive than silver. The emperor did have an aluminum tableware, he ate with an aluminum spoon. “ Even I made a utility cutlery set of silver and bakelite. When Eckart Witzigman, the ‘chef of the century’ visited Budapest, the Hungarian Gastronomy Association presented him with such a dinner set.”

The jewelry is best if personal. Feri, the British Blue cat is lazily watching our conversation. „ It was two years old when I took in. I made my darling a brooch of its sloughed whiskers.”

I use generally silver with cooper. As I know, I make this mesh pattern exclusively. A bit like a mokume-gane. It needs many working phase, but the pattern particularly makes a good appearance on the globe surface.”

The goldsmith’s art always tied strongly to the religion. The votive objects tell a lot about the era in which born. The EightDays Design team determined that, using the modern design, they brought closer to the young people the Hanukkah tradition, relegated after the Holocaust decades. “My first idea was a cube. But, according the Talmud, the miracle oil burned for eight days. So the sacred candelabra had an octahedron shape. We had a lot of problems along the production, but at least, we found the right material and workshop.”

“ It was a great honour that last year at the Jewish Museum, Budapest the Hanukkah candles were lightened from our menorah by HE Ilan Mor, ambassador of Israel and Mr. André Godfriend, first secretary, US Embassy.”

“ The selling of our  ‚hanuka 21‘ candelabra was started at the shop of the New York Jewish Museum. Since then, modern-minded child’s toy was added. It is a teetotum, inside is an ancient Hebrew verse: there happened a great miracle.”