2022 NYCJW Reciprocity Exhibition Press Release
RECIPROCITY
An exhibition during New York City Jewelry Week showcasing work by 10 global designers created in collaboration with mercury-free Peruvian mining collective, AMATAF
To show a responsible, traceable supply chain is possible and celebrate its reciprocal benefits.
New York, New York, November 4, 2022 – For the first time ever, ten international jewelry designers working in New York and Peru have collaborated with an association of artisanal miners, AMATAF, who is leading a wave of mercury-free gold mining and reforestation practice in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, supported by non-profit organization Pure Earth.
The Reciprocity Exhibition takes place from Wednesday, November 16 through Friday, November 18th, from 12-6:30pm at the Consulate of Peru in New York. A Peru Pisco Reception offering the signature cocktail of Peru, will be held on Thursday, November 17, from 4:30-7:30pm. The reception will begin with a panel discussion featuring Peruvian jeweler and Casa Collab Founder, Andrea José, New York-based responsible jewelry designer, Dana Bronfman, and a Pure Earth representative.
The event will allow guests to be immersed in the joy of fine jewelry created with gold sourced from miners whose names the designers know, listing provenance from the actual mining concession in the Peruvian Amazon amid the many ones in the Madre de Dios region their respective gold came from, and that the techniques used to extract the gold did not use mercury or any other toxic substances. They also learned how the miners are reforesting their concessions after closing them. This can offer guests an opportunity to see what is possible in the jewelry industry and a path to a gold supply chain offering unprecedented levels of transparency and traceability, benefitting miners, designers, customers as well as nature.
The designers whose designs will be showcased include Dana Bronfman, Delphine Leymarie, GBGH Jewelry, Maria&Maria, Andrea Jose, Matia Lia Baroni, Amulet by D Jewelry, IZA by Silvia D’Avila, Kathryn the Younger, and Candor.
The jewellery has been created in collaboration with Casa Collab, a B Corp based in Peru led by Peruvian jeweler Andrea Jose, who transformed the gold into castings, sheet, wire, and gold plate for the designers to finish in their studios.
About Reciprocity
“The idea of reciprocity, in the context of this exhibition, is pivotal to the way that we, as designers, approach our practices. Reciprocity is the basis for partnerships and friendship, the core of truthful connections that make our society alive. The purpose is the mutual benefit of all participants in the collaborative process of jewelry making - from mine to finished product,” says Andrea Jose, Peruvian jeweler who worked with AMATAF to source the gold and create the pieces that eventually moved to each participating jewelry designer’s studio.
“This is the first edition of this project, presented during the NYC Jewelry Week 2022, with the purpose of showcasing that a solution for the jewelry industry is collaboration and partnership. The benefits of it are multiplied when all the players - miner and jeweller- work together,” continues Jose.
Reciprocity invites the jewelry industry and customer to consider the environmental and social impact equally in their purchases.
We believe that jewelry that is produced in the spirit of reciprocity makes it glisten even brighter.
In addition to the created jewelry being on view, designers will be present to explain their inspiration and what it was like collaborating with AMATAF. More information will be showcased regarding the mining process and what this might mean for the jewelry industry beyond this event.
Editor’s note: Photos are available. Interviews with Andrea Jose, participating jewelers, Pure Earth and miners on request, dana@danabronfman.com.
Where: Consulate of Peru, 241 E 49th St, New York, NY 10017
When: November 16, 17, 18th, 2022, 12pm-6:30pm
Peru Pisco Reception November 18, 4:30pm-7:30pm
RSVP: dana@danabronfman.com
Pisco Reception: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/peru-pisco-evening-at-nyc-jewelry-week-tickets-446053286387
About AMATAF
AMATAF brings into their manifesto the following principles:
- Equanimity in mining through our work with female-led mining concessions.
- Environmental preservation through the use of gold which has been extracted from the earth without the damaging use of mercury.
- Habitat preservation and environmental regeneration through reforestation with native flora.
- Community building through the use of profits which are directly injected into the local economy.
- Fair compensation for everyone along the supply chain.
- Collaborating with local craftspeople to produce sheet and wire goods as well as finished jewelry pieces.
Thank you to our partners:
Consulate of Peru in New York- OCEX New York
Pure Earth
Pure Earth is a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and improving lives and protecting the planet by reducing disease-causing pollution and cleaning up toxic hot spots in low- and middle-income countries. Since its inception in 1999, Pure Earth and its field teams have completed more than 120 projects in 27 countries using best-in-class science, analytics, and engineering practices to identify toxic hot spots and teach communities how to improve soil, water, and air quality with pragmatic, cost-effective solutions. Pollution is the largest environmental cause of death and disease in the world, stealing 9 million lives each year, and disabling hundreds of millions of children. Pure Earth prioritizes actions that protect the developing brains and bodies of children and pregnant women living in toxic hot spots with a specific emphasis on lead and mercury exposure. Partnering with governments, communities, and industry leaders, Pure Earth aims to elevate pollution as a global priority, create sustainable change, and support a healthier future.
Pure Earth is the organization who works with AMATAF to achieve mercury-free techniques and reforest their concessions.