Nelson Jewellery Week 2025
10th - 16th April 2025 | Whakatū Nelson, New Zealand
A very exciting adventure for me, setting off to my first ‘jewellery week’ event. Held in Whakatū Nelson in New Zealand, the whole town became host to exhibitions, events, workshops, talks and social activities, for a full 7 days packed full of jewellery goodness.
The schedule for the week was pretty full on (calling for some extreme spreadsheeting!), but I was spurred on by the energy of it all. The walking floortalk tours were valuable, hearing from the artists themselves alongside their works. There were also plenty of opportunities to meet, interact and network with new and familiar faces - as a newbie to the event, and not knowing a lot of people, I was made to feel so welcome by everyone that I met.
I ticked off as many of the events as I could (interspersed with coffee and naps), including a floral brooch workshop by the wonderful Vicki Mason, and a cord making workshop by Annie Mackenzie. I also received a super-cool pin from Justine Fletcher in the traditional Pin Swap event, made from a piece of axe blade and rhubarb cord.
Some stand out exhibitions were ‘Licky Licky’ (a group show of queer-identified artists exploring their individual and shared experiences), ‘Surface to Surface’ (with their bold cardboard box displays), and ‘Indicating Right, Turning Left’ (an eclectic group show at the very cool Project 100 gallery). I also loved the KOHĀ activation event (Neke Moa, Sofia Tekela-Smith and Stevei Houkāmau), hearing about their experience in Munich Jewellery Week, partaking in the kava ceremony, and witnessing the exchange of gifts between guests and our hosts.
I was fortunate enough to also be welcomed to Nelson in my new role as Secretary of the World Craft Council - Asia Pacific Region, and honoured to experience a mihi-whakatau led by the Nelson Provincial Museum Pupuri Taonga o Te Tai Ao. I thank Hamuera Manihera and the team for such a kind welcome, and it was a pleasure to meet some of my international colleagues in person for the first time.
Nelson seems to be the perfect setting for an event like this. As it’s such a small place I stayed in the centre of town and didn’t have to walk more than 10 minutes to reach any of the activities, making it feel like I really could experience pretty much all of the activities. Simply walking the streets I stumbled over pop up events and window installations, and exchanged smiles and waves with other visitors - admiring all the amazing jewellery worn by everyone as well!
The local community seems to have really embraced the jewellery culture there, as well as other creative practices (they also have Nelson Clay Week every alternate year). It was refreshing to see how a community and the local council can happily support the creative industries and see it as a real positive and lucrative endeavour. It is also great to hear that Nelson has announced their intention to apply to be recognised as a UNESCO Creative City.
I’m definitely planning to head back to Nelson in 2027 for the next Jewellery Week!
Photos by Susannah Kings-Lynne