|
Jewelry as identity, custom and culture
Pieces from a private collection on display at Lalaounis Museum
Body beautiful. Clockwise from right: Kina shell on a woven cord necklace from Papua New Guinea, where shells are used as currency; an elaborate Chinese bronze tiara decorated with kingfisher feathers, mother-of-pearl and ivory, worn by wealthy women on important occasions; beads of gold-leaf necklace worn in the Mela, a festival organized by the Limbu, Gurung and Tamang people in Nepal, where families display their wealth through jewelry and decoration.By Elis Kiss - Kathimerini English Edition
Long before bling-bling, designer jewelry and luxury brands, there was jewelry with identity, reflecting cultures, customs and societies. Representing a 40-year-old quest by its owner, “Ethnic Jewelry from the Private Collection of Liza Moussis,” currently being showcased at the Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, is a display of portable art, representing wealth, social status, provenance and more. The temporary exhibition is taking place under the auspices of the National Committee of the European Cultural Foundation, with the generous sponsorship of Calzedonia and Intimissimi. With more than 170 items, stemming from no fewer than 30 countries stretching from Africa to Asia, from Morocco to Papua New Guinea, and Yemen, the majority of the pieces were made between the late 19th and early 20th century. For the body With body ornaments ranging from necklaces to anklets and from hair pieces to buckles and earrings, the exhibition features jewelry made of precious metals and semiprecious stones, without discarding beads, feathers and even cloves. At the Athenian museum, traditional values and behaviors come across through the use of a variety of pieces: An anklet (probably from the Baoule tribe in Ivory Coast) used to be fixed on a woman’s leg as part of her dowry. These days, wearing this type of jewelry is forbidden by the Liberian government. Believed to have therapeutic qualities, amber is used extensively in Morocco, as seen in a collection of necklaces. The Hellenistic influences in a Kalash neck ring in Pakistan points to a rich history. Earrings made by the Flores people in Ngada, Indonesia, are traditionally given by young men as an engagement and preliminary wedding gift. In India, on the other hand, it is the woman’s family who has to produce jewelry amounting to the bride-to-be’s “worth,” such as the heavy silver torque (neck ring) on display. In Turkmenistan, jewelry is known to hang on the back – at the museum is a piece with elaborate gilding and cornelians – while newlywed women are obliged to wear their entire bridal collection every day for a year. In Nepal, wealthy women can be identified by intricate pieces such as necklaces with gold-leaf beads and sheet metal sewn on fabrics. Just as ethnic fashion styles have been increasingly gaining momentum in the Western world – with designers throwing softer or stronger elements into their collections – ethnic jewelry has become a fountain of inspiration through original or reproduced pieces playing leading roles in Western looks. If the democratization of jewelry means that a solitaire nowadays no longer necessarily indicates a marriage proposal and is purchased by the person who ultimately wears it, this ethnic jewelry comes as a reminder that it has not always been that way. Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, 12 Kallisperi, Acropolis. For more information, tel 210.922.1044. The exhibition runs to January 31.
|
Exclusively available inside The International Herald Tribune in Greece and Cyprus
Home page
