Participants (see their HS progress)
- Antonia Boyle
- Aphra Cheesman
- Nina van Duijnhoven
- Jack Hadley
- Fran Leitch
- Nikki Perry
- Amelia Rothwell
- Mia Straka
- Simon Swale
- Susan Videler
- Michelle Wilkinson
- Macarena Bernal
The HANDSHAKE 6 Activities’ programme for 2020 – 2021:
MASTERclass 2021
ON-E by: Estela Saez Vilanova (CAT-ES)
A series of Zoom workshops during April – October about ONLINE EXHIBTIONS with the intention to prepare Handshake 6 artists for their online exhibition submission

Statement: Recently, curators and educators have progressively started exploring the numerous possibilities proposed by virtual exhibitions. Institutions have made 3-D tours of their galleries accessible online through a variety of platforms, allowing visitors from around the globe to virtually “wander” through many Museums around the world, Van Gogh Museum or Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul in Mexico among other significant sites. But when the Covid-19 pandemic started, public curiosity in virtual art experiences, as for the need of the maker to present worldwide their works, increased like never before.
The online-exhibiting field is yet to be fully discovered, therefore our main purpose with this Masterclass -besides the fact that Handshake Program has since long counted with online exhibitions-, it is to offer intuitive virtual exhibition ideas and presentation of our works, that offers flexibility and are willing to reach to public and/or followers showing their final results, as for its working process as part of the result itself. Aiming at generating enthusiasm through sharing emotions, new values and creating expectations; “The goal is the meaning and the meaning is the goal” while testing abstract and visual/sound experiments, we will our work and process as for the idea of how to present virtually these works yet we as creators. Throughout provoking alternatives to in-person viewing, interactive and a variety of content formats that viewers can engage with, especially during the present times we live in.
Techniques: Video/sound/photo
JEWELcamp 2021 June – Aug
FUNDRAISING Workshop
by: Joany Grima
Objectives: To empower HS6 artists to create a practical, implementable and achievable plan to achieve your collective Handshake fundraising goal.
JEWELcamp & MASTERclass 2020
The HS6 programme started off in pre-Covid January with a JEWELcamp that contained an intro and instruction to the programme, and a Push/Pull intro workshop with Renee Bevan, and a Masterclass workshop with Iris Eichenberg at NZ school of Art & Fashion, Epsom, Auckland.
What happened during MASTERclass:
HS6 artists had to place 5 unfinished works and a finished work they brought along from their workshops on the table.
Iris asked to spend 45 mins with no talking, moving around the tables and adding, subtracting, or moving/grouping works as they pleased.
On an adjacent table, each had tipped out the shoebox of workshop materials they brought along. Invited to help themselves to anyone’s collection they ‘interfered’ with others’ work on the table. After this, all had to write down what was noticeable when they interfered with other’s people’s objects, and what was noticeable what happened to their own work.
Each discussed that in the group.
Following that Iris asked to take some things off the table that was thought were not finished or did not belong there – then to replace it with something.
After that they were instructed to categorise the remaining works into groupings.
They started this in seperate groups, but all moved in and around so the groups weren’t fixed, which happened naturally. After categorising, the remaining works were labelled and went into collections.
This freeing and fun exercise illuminates and illustrates how artists operate in terms of editing and taste preferences.
Iris’ questioning and inspiring ways brought magic to HS6
Blog Posts
DNA under Perspex!
Found, given, owned, loved (April 2022) grey hair. From DNA – some old, found, given, owned; some strands discarded from heads of long passed loved ones – a new narrative is born. The work is made from once crowning glories, now a new story; their story and my story...
Masterclass with Estela Saez
Our masterclass with Estela was engaging, thought provoking and fast paced. During our meetings, there was no time to over think things – sometimes we only had 30 seconds to make something so we no choice but to go with our first instincts. It was challenging (in a...
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Zooming in
Handshake7 contemporary jewellery Masterclass with Estela Saez
SHAPE SHIFTER: HS6 Fundraiser
The HANDSHAKE6 group has been collaborating on a fundraising necklace project for a while, and they are excited to share the results! These necklaces are a collaboration between the group with each participant designing one of the 12 shapes. There are 4 different...
Aphra Cheesman winning the Prize for Design
HANDSHAKE 6 artist Aphra Cheesman won the TALENTE PRIZE - Prize for Design 2022 at TALENTE ('Preiss für Gestaltung'), Munich MORE
into the darkness… again….
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‘August 2020’- a Glimmer
at Whirinaki Whare Taonga, Upper Hutt 21 May – 27 June 2022 Our second exhibition of new work as members of Handshake_6, GLIMMER reveals a sample of our current work as we build towards our final exhibition at Northart in Auckland later in the year. For the year July...
A Glimmer of Hope
364 Days and a Glimmer of Hope Unwittingly I began my work for Glimmer in January 2021. After the psychological turbulence of 2020 I decided to create a simple repetitive task that could be completed regardless of what was to happen in 2021. So, the link a day...
‘Ethiopia’, as part of ‘GLIMMER’
at Whirinaki Whare Taonga, 21 May - 27 June 2022 The second and penultimate exhibition of new work by members of Handshake_6, GLIMMER offers a sample of our current work as we build towards our final exhibition at Northart in Auckland later in the year. ...
JEWELLERY GLIMMER
HANDSHAKE 6 exhibition at WHIRINAKI WHARE TAONGA, Upper Hutt, Wellington, NZ Saturday 21 May - Sunday 24 July, 2022 'Jewellery Glimmer' is how jewellery is in conversation with many of their surroundings. The art works in this exhibition are made from...
Support Letter for Handshake Project
A letter sent to Peter in support of the Handshake Project. March 2022 As a busy full time jewellery artist and business owner, over the past two years, Handshake has kept me anchored to my somewhat elusive artistic practice. In a world where I work hard to generate...
Project Overwhelming
"I keep having these weird dreams of jewellery getting really big and really small...its overwhelming"
It’s a wrap…?
Here we are then, December 2021. What a time. During the past two years I was challenged by my illustrious mentor Manon Van Kouswijk to stop working with the materials and medium I was most comfortable with; metal and jewellery, in order to expand my horizons and...
Drawing the threads together- the Age of Information
Translating two dimensional data drawings into digital visualisations, into three dimensional adornment -exploring time and experience.










