London

On the 20th of October I arrived in London participate I a collaborative show with the Handshake 3 team and the Dialogue collective, At the Saint Pancras Crypt after which I embarked on a 9 day intensive self directed professional development tour of Amsterdam Paris and Munich

I have chosen to write a report to elaborate on particular experiences amd exhibition visits which have contributed to the multiple aims of this travel:

• conduct research toward a new work body of work relating to materiality, the vernacular and souvenir jewellery to exhibit in 201
  
• Gain Professional development towards the jewel and the jeweller contemporary jewellery workshop and studio and my role as co-educator and facilitator of community initiatives 
  
• ​Extend Ideas around display and exhibition design
• visit and talk with makers, educators, gallerist and curators
• develop new ways of thinking about jewellery in both historical and contemporary contexts
  and thereby gain a broader understanding of the underpinnings of my craft.

British Museum

• I am Ashurbanipal king of the world,king of Assyria This guys reign from the city of Nineveh (now in northern Iraq) marked the high point of the Assyrian empire and the collection was made up of About 200 objects including enormous stone sculptures, rare wall paintings, gold and ivory furniture fittings and extravagant metalwork my pick were the incredibly detailed walls of relief carving depicted a rich narrative from an ancient and almost forgotten culture. Sadly the archaeological sites these objects are from have since been attacked and destroyed by the Islamic state. This was the first exhibition I had seen and realised I would have to pick up the pace if I was to get around this immense Museum. Of interest to me were the crazy souvenir shops , offering countless iterations of pens, magnets, tea towels and so on.. a compulsive a mirroring of the museums massive hoard of artefacts and evidence of our societies deep obsession with commodity in the form of souvenir

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