SOUL NOW: A workshop with Ruudt Peters

After the success of the last 17 years, this year Ruudt Peters begins his summer workshop under the title SOUL NOW.

Peters loves working around universal and ancient concepts.

The spiritual aspect of his work, which can be found in his creations, is also what guides him in transmitting knowledge and skills, a bit like Socrates liked to do with the maieutic: to stimulate the disciples to bring out the truth from themselves, truth that is not teachable, but it is a knowledge of the soul.

In this case, Peters also includes an exhortation, an invitation, a sort of exclamation: SOUL NOW!

A bit like saying that now we need the soul, immediately!

And maybe it's true: how to distinguish between the thousands of stimuli, images, content, which every day submerge us, something worthy and significant, really important?

Few elements allow us to make the difference, in life as in our actions, but perhaps the ability to instil a little soul in objects, and in this case jewels, can be important.

So come on, let’s get a little bit of soul, now.

For Peters the soul is an intangible, insubstantial concept.

Something that has no content or matter, but it is actually tangible and perceptible. Every living entity has a SOUL. The soul represents the personality of people and makes a person what he/she is, his/her character.

When you create a positive and intensive surrounding around making, there is a possibility that the soul slowly comes into the object. This is the main goal of the workshop, learning how to blow the divine wind into objects.

More concretely, you will learn how to stand for what you are, and what you are making. SOUL NOW is a workshop to discover and explore the power of the maker, to fine tune and connect with your own spirit, guiding yourself on the way to delve deeper into your visual language and see yourself better.

There are 4 grants for young art-students and recent graduates who have completed studies in the last year. Students who receive the grant will also have to do some supporting work during the workshop.

Ruudt Peters has been a professor at three of the most prestigious universities in Europe, the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam 1990-2000, Ädellab at Konstfack University of Arts and Crafts in Stockholm 2004-2009, Alchimia Contemporary Jewellery School in Florence 2009-2015.

At this moment Peters is cofounder and member of the board " Foundation MASieraad" who initiate the MA Challenging Jewellery program at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. Through his Summer School he continues his teaching with a private program intended for students or graduates of art academies, and artists /designers / teachers who seek to deepen their work. Every year an international group of fine art artists and jewelry-makers participate in his workshop. The workshops are held in Peters’ summer studio in the countryside of the Netherlands.

For More Information

For further information about the application process and registration please write to info@ruudtpeters.nl and Koen Jacobs: Koen561@live.nl

For more information about Ruudt Peters see: www.ruudtpeters.nl

About the Contributing Writer

Ilaria Ruggiero is a cultural manager and curator working in the field of contemporary art. She is the founder of Adornment - Curating Contemporary Art Jewelry, a curatorial integrated project dedicated to contemporary art jewelry. It aims to develop the knowledge and consciousness of contemporary jewelry as artistic discipline and as ground search for technique, aesthetics, and philosophy.