Participants (see their progress)
- Becky Bliss
- Nadene Carr
- Kirstin D'Agostino
- Lisa Higgins
- Nik Hanton
- Mandy Flood
- Caroline Thomas
- Aphra Cheesman
- Nina van Duijnhoven
- Mia Straka
- Raewyn Walsh
- Simon Swale
HS7 activities 
HANDSHAKE 7 activities
The HS7 activity programme aims to provoke creative development through experimentation, and endeavour.
The HS7 group started with a masterclass series over ZOOM with Estela Saez Vilanova from Barcelona. Estella's workshop sessions stretched till mid-June and pushed the HS7 artists with a variety of assignments.
The motivation of her masterclass is to search for inspiration, understand it, and when needed, apply it as a gathered experience to the working process of the artist. The HS7 artists revisited their usual making processes through a well-balanced comprehension of the conscious & unconscious phenomena, in an attempt to somehow merge the two.
After the intensive masterclass sessions of Estella Saez, each of the HS7 artists explored the discoveries and possible options for producing a new body of work for the MARZEE exhibition.
Next to the artistic development a series of feedback coach' sessions were planned for professional responses to the developing exhibition work of the HS7 artists.
The selection of international coaches picked by MARZEE were Iris Bodemer, Katharina Dettar, and Annelies Planteijdt. They gave multiple feedback during the second half of 2022 with their expertise and knowledge. Each of the feedback sessions was open to other HS7 artists with learning opportunities for all.
The overall overseer of the HS7 group is curator and writer Sarah McClintock from Masterton (NZ).
Sarah's role is to act as a surrogate for the audience; a kind of medium that connects the public and the artist. With her experience in writing and speaking about contemporary jewellery, Sarah provided insight and assistance that guided the HS7 artists in crafting the right words for their artist statements, alongside their making of the exhibition work.
HS7 blog posts
Thinking and making and thinking
The workshop with Estela Saez was a frustrating, humbling, infuriating and ultimately rewarding experience. Estela is an expert at shining a light on flabby thinking and boy, did I have to shape up and work hard to get my works ready for Galerie Marzee as a result!...
A Journey
After many false starts, explorations. experimentations and near breakdowns… we got there. It was another wild ride on the runaway bus that is the Handshake Project, and this one- Handshake7, was almost the one that broke the camels back. Overlapping with the tail end...
Decisions, one liners, and haphazard joy
DECISION TIME: At the end of the Estela Saez workshop I had two very strong desires: one was to continue to make a family of rings. The other idea was to revisit my plastic take-away brooches. Leftover, found and gifted metal, had been the material I landed on at the...
The end is only the beginning..
Just like that, 2022 has been and gone, and we are already in the 2nd month of the new year. As Dubowski puts it: “We are paper thin. We exist on luck amid the percentages, temporarily. And that’s the best part and the worst part, the temporal factor.” As the years...
Handshake7 at Gallery Marzee
The Exhibition Climbing up the industrial iron staircase to our final Handshake7 exhibition on the second floor of Gallery Marzee in the Netherlands, I am greeted by a narrow gallery with twelve rectangular tables. Standing to attention in a linear row, they are...
HandShake 7 activities
The HS7 activity programme aims to provoke creative development through experimentation, and endeavour.
The HS7 group started with a masterclass series over ZOOM with Estela Saez Vilanova from Barcelona. Estella's workshop sessions stretched till mid-June pushed the HS7 artists with variety of assignments.
The motivation of her masterclass is to search for inspiration, understand it, and when needed, is applied as a gathered experience to the working process of the artist. The HS7 artists revisited their usual making processes through a well-balanced comprehension of the conscious & unconscious phenomena, in an attempt to somehow merge the two.
After the intensive masterclass sessions of Estella Saez, each of the HS7 artists explore the discoveries and possible options of producing a new body of work for the MARZEE exhibition.
Next to the artistic development a series of feedback coach' sessions were planned for professional responses to the developing exhibition work of the HS7 artists.
The selection of international coaches picked by MARZEE were Iris Bodemer, Katharina Dettar, Annelies Planteijdt. They gave multiple feedback during the second half of 2022 with their expertise and knowledge. Each of the feedback sessions were open to watch to other HS7 artists with learning opportunities for all.
The overall overseer of the HS7 group is curator and writer Sarah McClintock from Masterton (NZ).
Sarah's role is to act as a surrogate for the audience; a kind of medium that connects the public and the artist. With her experience in writing and speaking about contemporary jewellery, Sarah provided insight and assistance that guided the HS7 artist in crafting the right words for their artist statements, alongside their making of the exhibition work.
Aotearoa Exchange
Aotearoa Exchange is a performative presentation that opens SCHMUCKmuenchen 2026 at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, on Friday 6 March. This project presents more than 40 wearable works by 20 Handshake Project alumni, animating the space with a dynamic...
Aotearoa Exchange
Aotearoa Exchange is presented and performed by Mia Straka, Jessica Winchcombe, Grace Yu Piper, Hilda Gascard, Lisa van Hulst, and Peter Deckers on Fr 06 March 2026, at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. The project brings more than forty wearable works by HANDSHAKE...
Reflections on the Handshake Project:
A Journey of Innovation and Community (2011–April 2025) - By Peter Deckers Looking back on my time leading the Handshake Project (HS)—from its modest beginnings in 2010 to its conclusion in April 2025—I see a journey defined by transformation. What started as a...
MINUMENTAL
ex HS6 artists presented their group exhibition MINUMENTAL at Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne as part of the Radiant Pavilion Contemporary Jewellery and Object Biennale 2024. Following its debut at Nelson Jewellery Week (Aotearoa) in 2023, this second iteration...
MATERIALISE, HS8 exhibition
MATERIALISE: HANDSHAKE 8 Pah Homestead, Auckland, Aotearoa NZ 8 November 2024 - 16 February 2025 Denise Callan, Fiona Frew, Fran Carter, Genie Lee, Grace Yu Piper, Lisa van Hulst, Louise Hill, Nellie Peoples, Rachel Chapman, Rose Pickernell, Tūī Diprose MATERIALISE...
New Zealand Jewellery Triennial
The second Aotearoa Jewellery Triennial (2025-26) The second Aotearoa Jewellery Triennial, curated by Sian van Dyk will take place at: The Suter Art Gallery, Nelson (8 March – 8 June 2025) and Te Manawa Museum, Palmerston North (23 August 2025 – 1 March 2026) Moniek...
67206 Days, 2276 Full Moons (last days)
April 10 – May 4, 2024 The jewellery artists featured in this NZ exhibition contemplate themes of discovery, origins, integration, and conflict. Becky Bliss Nadene Carr Alpha Cheesman Nina van Duijnhoven Neke Moa Mia Straka Caroline Thomas Sarah Walker-Holt Raewyn...
Opening 67206 Days, 2276 Moons
Please join us for the opening Saturday 13 April 3-at 5 pm of 67206 days, 2276 full moons, these numbers mark the time since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi...so who’s counting? Nine New Zealand artists from the Handshake Project with the support of Creative New...
67206 Days, 2276 Full Moons
NEW EXHIBITION at Stanley Street Gallery, Sydney 67206 Days, 2276 Full Moons April 10 - May 4, 2024 Becky Bliss, Nadene Carr, Aphra Cheesman, Nina van Duijnhoven, Neke Moa, Mia Straka, Caroline Thomas, Sarah Walker-Holt and Raewyn Walsh The NZ jewellery artists...
PROOF of CONCEPT, 21Nov-20Dec
Proof of Concept HS8 group exhibition at DEPOT ArtSpace, Auckland 4 November – 20 December, opening Saturday 4 Nov, 2 pm ‘Proof of Concept’ is an exhibition that marks the halfway point in the journey of HANDSHAKE 8's two-year professional development...
PROOF of concept, HS8 exhibition
4 November – 21 December, opening Saturday 4 Nov, 2 pm ‘Proof of Concept’ is an exhibition at DEPOT Artspace , Devenport, Auckland that marks the halfway point in the journey of HANDSHAKE 8; a two-year professional development programme for 11 contemporary jewellers....
HANDSHAKE 8 is live
Welcome to HandShake 8, 2023-24 HS8 is a 2-year programme that encourages experimentation, feedback, development, and exhibiting. Twelve emerging artists selected by Estela Saez Vilanova (Barcelona) start off with a series of masterclasses in which depth and content...
Thinking and making and thinking
The workshop with Estela Saez was a frustrating, humbling, infuriating and ultimately rewarding experience. Estela is an expert at shining a light on flabby thinking and boy, did I have to shape up and work hard to get my works ready for Galerie Marzee as a result!...
A Journey
After many false starts, explorations. experimentations and near breakdowns… we got there. It was another wild ride on the runaway bus that is the Handshake Project, and this one- Handshake7, was almost the one that broke the camels back. Overlapping with the tail end...
Decisions, one liners, and haphazard joy
DECISION TIME: At the end of the Estela Saez workshop I had two very strong desires: one was to continue to make a family of rings. The other idea was to revisit my plastic take-away brooches. Leftover, found and gifted metal, had been the material I landed on at the...