BAJ Podcast

Go with the Glow

Our senses are the filters to our universe. Jewellery, unlike other artforms, is often worn on the body, engaging most of our senses. Some jewellery designers explore the edges of our sensory exploration of the world, questioning what it is we can and cannot see, or feel - or enabling a beauty to be sensed only in certain conditions. A jewellery designer who aims to explore how the multi-sensory experience of wearing and viewing jewellery can be changed with the enhancement of light as an interactive medium is Wanshu Li. In this podcast episode we discuss how her work attempts to challenge the traditional way that people wear and interact with jewellery by exploring the relationship between materiality and sensory experiences, using traditional and digital techniques.

Urban Jewellery Thinking

When we think about jewellery, we think it generally is worn on the body. Can jewellery or adornment be created for non-human contexts? Jewellery artist and researcher Liesbet Bussche has been challenging scale, materials and perceptions. Her large city objects are clearly inspired by jewellery and aim to adorn the city. In this episode, we discuss the scale of jewellery and what it is like to work multidisciplinary. We discuss her fascination for the city and the archetypical form of jewellery, and how changing contexts can change perspectives.

Tracing Jewellery Stories

When we look at the profession of jewellery, we often review pieces of jewellery from the past to gain an insight into the application of techniques, the reasons jewellery pieces were commissioned and worn, and gain insights into trends and changes in style. Museums such as the V&A provide us with an opportunity to look at some of the most interesting pieces of jewellery in European history. To discuss what it is like to trace the stories of these jewellery pieces, I speak to the BAJ Associate Lecturer in Critical and Historical Studies, and previously curator at the V&A for 20 years, Rachel Church. Join us in a conversation about weird and wonderful jewellery stories, what it is like to work as a curator and much more.

Reversed Roles

To mark the 50th Episode of the BAJ Podcast, Sofie is joined by fellow Podcaster, broadcaster, author and editor Carol Woolton. In this episode, Carol as Co-Host, will find out a little more about the Sofie's research, fascination with jewellery and the ideas behind the BAJ podcast. They will discuss what topics they feel are important for the industry to engage with and what their plans are for both of their podcasts.

The physical reality of the virtual

When we speak about the digital world, we use words such as the cloud for data storage, and the metaverse for a virtual reality. But as Dr. Patricia Domingues aptly points out with her research and work, the very real physical realities to enable the use of digital tools, requiring increasingly more data, is very much 'real'. A research fellow at the Jewellery-Linking Bodies Department in the Gerrit Rietveld Academy Patricia investigates how artificial intelligence, metaverse worlds and digital structures frame the way humans think while drastically reshaping the way landscapes are handled. In this episode, we discuss her jewellery practice to date and the research she is currently working on. 

The Sustainable Touch

Jewellery Prime Time

In this episode, BAJ's Sofie Boons speaks with one of the voices behind the new BAJ BA Course, Hollie Paxton. We discuss her jewellery career to date, covering the work she does for TV big hits such as Netflix, the BBC and Apple TV, her personal collections, bespoke commissions and her vision for the course.

Artificial Intelligems

In this episode, BAJ's Sofie Boons speaks with the co-founders of the 'Artificial Intelligems' collective, Anneleen Swillen and Greg Scheirlinckx to discuss their work and research, the benefits and dangers of AI and the tools currently available and how AI can be used in relation to jewellery. Listen in to find out more about machine learning in a creative context and ponder our increasingly digital future.

Current Obsession at Munich Jewellery Week 2023

In this episode, BAJ's Sofie Boons speaks with two members of the team behind the thought-provoking magazine 'Current Obsession'. With their magazine, and their first ever Jewellery Hub in the centre of Munich during Munich Jewellery Week, the team want to create a platform for jewellers to showcase broadly, discuss and most importantly re-connect following the Covid-19 Pandemic. Sofie speaks to them about their vision for the magazine and 'Current Obsession', the experience of taking centre stage in Munich Jewellery Week and what is next. If you did not have a chance to travel to Munich or catch up with the team at Current Obsession, listen in to a conversation recorded at the buzzing hub - it will be as if you are actually there!

Curating Schmuck 2023 with Caroline Broadhead

In this episode, Sofie speaks with the curator selected for the Schmuck 2023 showcase in Munich. Having been an artist for over 50 years, and as an educator and curator of various exhibitions, Caroline Broadhead has a finger on the pulse of contemporary jewellery. We will discuss her selection for the exhibition, the key themes currently fascinating and challenging jewellers and her career in the medium and beyond.

For more than fifty years, Caroline has run her own practice exploring objects that come into contact with and interact with the body. Much of her work is jewellery, but it has also developed into larger scale work, exploring outer extents of the body as seen through light, shadows and reflections and movement. The work operates with a number of contexts, spanning jewellery, performance and art. Significant elements of her work have included collaborations with choreographers which build intimate and highly charged atmospheres in dance performances, and a number of which use historic buildings as both inspiration and location.

She has lectured, taught and exhibited widely and her work is represented in many public collections worldwide. A recent book and exhibition at CODA Museum, Netherlands showcased work spanning four decades. Other acknowledgements include: Jerwood Prize for Applied Arts: Textiles, 1997; Textiles International Open, 2004, and The Goldsmiths Craft & Design Council Lifetime Achievement Award, 2017.

Having retired as Course Leader, BA Jewellery Design at Central Saint Martins in 2018, she is now Professor Emerita there.