Go Big or Go Home: Jewellery Workshop

In many of her pieces, Vivienne Westwood explodes the myths of western jewellery – predominantly that it is small and pretty and made from valuable materials. She also loves the ‘do it yourself’ approach, ‘as if the wearer has spontaneously put her own creation together in the afternoon’.

In this workshop you will explore these ideas, working with found materials and creating an impact with making jewellery pieces through a bold reconsideration of proportion. Using a low-tech approach to construction the aim is come away from the workshop with a jewellery piece and some skills to apply to things you can make at home.

After you’ve fashioned your unique piece of jewellery, enjoy The Rebels' Tea Party in our themed lounge on level four.

About Mary Curtis

Mary Curtis has been making jewellery since the mid-1980s. Her practice has a strong focus on sustainability. She is interested in the life of all the materials she uses, where they come from and where they end up. Since 2019 Mary has explored ways to reduce waste and to change behaviour around how we value resources. All the materials she uses are sustainably sourced, with any by-products from materials and process able to be recycled – ‘My roots have always been firmly planted in the earth but now I am trying to walk more lightly on the land.’ Mary was an art educator for 29 years during which time she was the Programme Leader for Jewellery at MIT School of Visual Arts in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Her work is held in the public collections of Auckland War Memorial Museum and The Dowse Art Museum.

Session times:

• 9.30am–1.30pm
• 1.30pm–4.30pm

*Workshop tickets do not include exhibition entry.

Photo credit: Therese earrings. Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood Spring Summer 2020. Photo by Philippe Lacombe, 2024.