From October 15 to 30, Igualada becomes the capital of Catalan jewelry with the exhibition "Why is jewelry culture"?, as part of the cultural events of Igualada Capital of Catalan Culture 2022.

The exhibition can be visited in the La Teneria space and will also host several debate sessions and round tables. Organizes the Official College of Jewellers, Goldsmiths, Watchmakers and Gemmologists of Catalonia (JORGC) and the Department of Culture of the Igualada City Council, and has the support of the main jewelry schools in the country: the JORGC Jewelery School in Barcelona, ​​the Llotja Art and Design School in Barcelona, ​​the Tarragona School of Art and Design, the La Industrial Art School in Barcelona, ​​the School Art Arsenal in Vilafranca and the Massana Art School in Barcelona.

The exhibition will host a sample of the best jewels from several Catalan artisan jewelers, which have been carefully selected by the JORGC, which has appointed as curator of the exhibition Gemma López, president of the Artisans section of the JORGC, Sílvia Serra, president of the JORGC Designers section, Lluís Comín, member of the JORGC, and Sara Castells, artisan jeweler. The selection of the participating pieces has been conditioned by their technical quality and by the values ​​linked to the title of the exhibition ”Why is jewelry culture?”. Therefore, jewelry has been selected that not only are an ornament, but encourage debate on the future of the craft and the contribution of jewelery to Catalan and universal culture.

MeriTomasa has been selected to participate in the show by the Official College of Jewellers, Goldsmiths, Watchmakers and Gemmologists of Catalonia, with the jewel "El seny", a piece that will surely not go unnoticed, made with wisdom teeth, sterling silver, bronze and orthodontic elastics.

El seny, MeriTomasa's jewel selected by the JORGC to be part of the show, will surely not go unnoticed. It's a unique and no less controversial piece, in the form of a personalized brooch and made of wisdom teeth (real: they're mine!) and with sterling silver, bronze and orthodontic elastics. It's actually made from 3 of my wisdom teeth: the fourth is reproduced in silver because I didn't think to ask the dentist the first time. It has an aesthetic and at the same time a practical purpose: it is used to show it off as a brooch on designated holidays and at the same time not to lose your mind when the heat strikes.

Here is the meaning and purpose of this brooch: to carry my wisdom teeth very close to me, so as never to lose them, especially on designated dates, and to maintain the Catalan cultural balance between sanity and madness.

In this sense, the piece selected by MeriTomasa fits like a glove in the approach of the exhibition: to point out jewelers who, with their artistic and artisanal creations, take a step beyond technique to make a contribution to culture, Catalan and at the same time universal. With all the humility, but also with all the ambition and the day-to-day work well done of the small artisans.

We have accepted (and at school it is explained to us) that painting and sculpture have represented the reality that surrounds us over the centuries and have thus left a record of each historical moment. And this is what jewelry and all applied arts do, which are also a language that represents a place and a time. A language through shapes, colors, materials, textures. A language that explains knowledge, beliefs and behavioral patterns of a social group. Prehistoric people already made and wore their small venus (probably as an amulet) or the bones of prey. Jewelry is art and it is culture! Even the most serious and soulless jewelry is: we have jewelry that shows the "fast" consumerism we have experienced in the last century and we have others who bet on a different jewellery, more "slow", fairer, more artisanal and also more responsible towards society and the environment.

For me, jewelery and goldsmithing is my trade and my language, it is the channel through which I express myself, it is my passion, it is my voice, it is my refuge... and that's why I'm super happy that El Seny has been selected by the JORGC to be part of the sample.

The original piece, El seny, is not for sale: they are my wisdom teeth and I need them :) But you can buy two ready-to-wear versions online: the Wisdom Tooth Pin and the Wisdom Tooth Needle.

The city of Igualada is the Capital of Catalan Culture 2022, following a large number of towns since 2004. The JORGC wants to add visibility to the jewel as an undoubted integral element of Catalan culture. You can see the exhibition brochure here.