What is the story behind QUE Design?
A question put forward in a dark room in the heart of the Valletta bastions, which kicked off a collaboration between QUE and the Urban Jewellery workshop at EASA Links this year. Led by tutors Inesa Kovalova (UKR) and Larisa Sisoeva (MD), the workshop used the urban fabric of Valletta to inspire the creation of conceptual jewellery and body ornaments.

During one of the hands-on sessions exploring textures, shapes and materiality, QUE suggested the idea of an ornament taking on new meanings while being worn – where details don’t need to be physically added to the object, but which can instead be transformed through the bodies of those who wear it. Depending on the atmospheres being sought, and how you want the body to look, the design concept can be reinforced through the basic underlying forms of the object and not just its surface textures and cuts. As a result, the feeling being conveyed is made stronger as the source of inspiration becomes less obvious, and the ornament takes on a new and uniQUE narrative according to its wearer.

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Lecture and discussing individual projects and technique with the participants.

Transformability: A concept that was originally intended to be worn as a corset, was later also transformed into a head dress inspired by the Għonnella after a discussion about the local traditional costume.

(Photos by Alexandra Kononchenko)

Some more photos from the final presentation taken in Valletta, whose layers of history, baroque architecture, varied textures and contrasting effects of light and shadow inspired the designs for the Urban Jewellery collection: (Photos by Alexandra Kononchenko)