LODIE KARDOUSS

       Once upon a time, there lived a princess in a beautiful kingdom. One day, an epidemic swept through the city, causing all residents to disappear. All alone in the deserted streets, the princess sought refuge in a mysterious house.

       The house was referred to as mysterious because no one really knew what it held inside. However, it contained a resource center for professionals in the creative industries and related sectors, as well as flexible workspaces, meeting rooms, workshops, and seminar rooms. A large area was also dedicated to public activities, with various exhibitions, fashion shows, and art performances held every year.

       As she wandered through this space full of surprises, the princess pricked her finger on an artwork and fell asleep. During a lunar eclipse, a bird landed beside her and transformed into a fairy. She said the formula bo bidi bo bidi boom and with a wave of her magic wand, a beautiful golden ring with a large diamond appeared next to the princess’ hand.

       Eventually, the ring began to inflate like a balloon! As they say in the kingdom, "the size doesn't matter" and "all that glitters isn't gold". The princess sighed but did not wake up and the disillusioned fairy reverted to her bird form.

       After a while, as the inhabitants recovered from the epidemic and regained a sense of community, the mysterious house issued an invitation to feast. Although the party was beautiful and many gems were admired, the princess remained dozing in the middle of it all! She was watched, discussed, even laughed at. Nothing appeared to worry her, she seemed to be on hold, between sleep and activity, as if on standby.

       Someone █████████████████ ██████████████████████ █████████████████████ ███████████████████████ ███ princess awoke.

       ████████████████████ ███████████████████████ ████████████████████ ████████████████████ ██████████████████████ ███████████contemporary jewellery,█ ██████████████████ ████████████████████ █████████████████ new way.

       █████████████████████ ███ the epilogue is a happy one.

Throughout the entire process - from the first technical drawing of a piece to when the certificate of authenticity is handed over to begin its journey into the world - jewelry tells a story about emotional and economic value, identities, social and gender roles, risks, consent, power, commitment, and transmission over time.

Combining the symbolism of jewelry and the archaism of childhood tales that play an important role in the construction and the development of our personalities, the performance Sleeping Beauty (+) offers an insightful reflection on the characteristics of our time through jewelry.

Besides incorporating jewelry craftsmanship into her creations, my aim is to produce works that contextualize jewelry in such a way that it generates reflections on existence.

Concept, designs and performance: Lodie Kardouss

Construction collaborator to Lodie Kardouss: Jean-Baptiste Pacucci

Special thanks to: Brussels Jewellery Week, Mad Home of Creators, Max Gielis and Pieter T'Jonck

Presented during the opening ceremony of the Brussels Jewellery Week in April 2022 at MAD Home of Creators

Review by Pieter T'Jonck click here