Australian Jewellery Topos

This piece was part of the recent show Australian Jewellery Topos at Gallery Loupe in Montclair, New Jersey, USA.



'Topos' means 'of place' in Greek: the exhibition showcased 18 Melbourne jewellers' interpretations of place. Mnemochronology 3 is an object with 10 removable, wearable rings, in fine silver, enamel, felted wool and fabric.

Dendrochronology is the process of constructing narratives of history out of the rings of trees. Mnemochronology constructs narratives of the past out of rings of memory.

I had the opportunity to go to New Jersey with some of the other exhibiting artists for the opening night. We gave a public lecture at the 92nd Street Y, New York City, on the subject of Australian Jewellery Topos.



With the support of Arts Victoria, we produced a book called Australian Jewellery Topos: Talking About Place (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2011).



This was the third location (on three continents) for the Jewellery Topos exhibition. In 2009, in a slightly different form, Jewellery Topos was shown at Galerie Marzee, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and First Site Gallery, Melbourne.

Mnemochronology photo by Jeremy Dillon
Galerie Marzee photo by Galerie Marzee