Exhibitions Not Simply Seen however Felt

• The thrilling KOHĀ and KOHĀ Moana happenings in Munich expanded the standard viewers of Munich Jewelry Week
• Jewellery items current in each occasions had been seen and skilled in very other ways by two audiences
• These different approaches to displaying jewellery introduced the work to life in an energizing distinction to the anticipated—and standard—modes of exhibition in Munich

Initially of my Munich Jewelry Week journey, I made my technique to the Museum Fünf Kontinente (Museum 5 Continents) to attend the KOHĀ ceremony led by Aotearoa (New Zealand) adornment practitioners Neke Moa, Sofia Tekela-Smith, and Stevei Houkāmau. The Munich Jewelry Week web site described it as a efficiency and activation.

Koha is a crucial idea in te ao Māori (the Māori world). It references the act of providing a present or contribution as an expression of gratitude. Koha exists in each formal ceremony and on a regular basis life.

Tungia Symonds-Kaihau (Tainui, Ngāti Maniapoto) launched an thought across the notion of koha by including a macron over the ‘a’ to emphasize the second syllable hā. This addition extends the understanding of kohā to be a celebration of life and relationships inside it, as ‘hā’ means the breath or essence of life.

Inside this activation, kohā is interpreted as a reciprocal alternate acknowledging the relationships between cultural adornment, their makers and their wearers.[1]

The occurring was wealthy and layered with many elements. I can’t correctly do it justice. In a extremely emotive second, Moa, Tekela-Smith, and Houkāmau confirmed works they made in response to works within the museum’s assortment. In a shock transfer by the museum, in the course of the ceremony they had been allowed to deal with items from the historic assortment, even permitted to put on considered one of them.

Dr. Hilke Thode-Arora, the museum’s deputy director and curator of the Oceania and Australia Division, instructed me in regards to the course of that passed off months earlier than the ceremony. The museum let Moa, Tekela-Smith, and Houkāmau view all of the Polynesian collections digitally, then took high-resolution photographs of works that had been of curiosity to the artists. Proper earlier than the kohā,[2] the three makers noticed the taonga (treasures) in actual life for the primary time. Dr. Thode-Arora acknowledged that the conservationist “had checked upfront whether or not there have been any objects too fragile or probably too poisonous with insecticide remedies of the previous (feathers!) to put on. After the artists had taken their selection, she ready supportive strings for these items which the artists needed to put on.”[3] What an virtually unheard-of alternative, not to mention one initiated by the museum with out being requested!

The engagement was shifting. Individuals attending the ceremony not solely acknowledged the kinships between historic and up to date objects, they grasped the impression of the historic works not simply on Moa, Tekela-Smith, and Houkāmau’s work however on the makers themselves. Seeing and listening to about historic and up to date works aspect by aspect, the viewers bodily understood the ideas within the historic works that had been beneficial to switch into the up to date work, not simply the references to form. The bodily and emotional reactions to this engagement left the room in attentive silence.

The viewers was then invited to “interact within the means of kohā by exchanging and deepening an understanding of taonga and adornment apply by their very own choices of phrases, songs or small treasures.”[4] Attendees may provide objects, songs, or something they wished as a technique to join with the three makers. In return, they acquired a cloth gesture, similar to a necklace of small strung shells or a palm stuffed with carved clay beads made by one of many artists, thus marking a second of kinship and connection. It was an area to take part in what had been talked about in the course of the presentation.

The shock within the room over receiving bodily works from the makers with out an alternate of cash and even bodily materials in return was palpable. It additionally created a technique to take dwelling one thing tangible to recollect the engagement. It gave contributors one other entry into experiencing the dialogue at hand. It emphasised the power of objects to hold tales and histories and to remind us of our histories and connections to individuals not current.

Afterward, viewers members had been guided by the gathering to listen to what I might describe as an animation of historic objects. Moa, Tekela-Smith, and Houkāmau sang and spoke to the objects within the vitrines and instructed us tales and histories. This acknowledged the animism of the objects—the life, tales, and information the supplies maintain behind the glass and set off to those that take heed to them. We noticed that the article just isn’t lifeless or a factor because it seemingly rests, contained by a vitrine. It challenged the viewers to think about how we take into consideration supplies, objects, and the connection of “the human” to them.

Moa, Tekela-Smith, and Houkāmau relate their practices “to features of the whenua (land) and moana (ocean).”[5] On the subsequent day, they hosted KOHĀ Moana. This occurring introduced “the group’s taonga (treasures) again to the water to reconnect with this important factor.”[6] This was completed by working with a neighborhood surfer, Theo Bernier, who wore the work proven on yesterday whereas browsing the well-known wave on Munich’s Eisbach River. Carrying the work within the water served to replenish and reaffirm “the adornment’s connection to the pure world.”[7]

When requested in regards to the origins of this concept, Moa instructed me that it stemmed from the collective. They arrive from a spot that surfs, so it appeared logical to connect with Munich by its surf spot subsequent to the Haus der Kunst—the middle for up to date arts simply north of metropolis middle.

I like how the embodied impulse appeared to at all times be on the entrance of decision-making amongst this group of makers. What could appear to be random impulsivity or disorganization to some was really an motion of listening to the fabric, the land, and the bod(y/ies), and to do what felt essential and logical from this attitude relatively than formally logical in a Western exhibition sense.

This structuring allowed for engagement far totally different from yesterday within the museum. On the museum, contributors needed to intentionally enter a museum house and lecture corridor, to have some type of earlier information of what was occurring, and to take part with intention. On this present day, the three makers introduced the exhibition to an unintentional public.

It isn’t day-after-day one sees surfers adorned with objects one wouldn’t count on on the chilly waters of Munich’s river. The relaxed occasion invited the general public to ask questions or to cease and simply watch. A curious surfer (I used to be solely capable of finding out his first title, Leo) requested what was occurring, and was abruptly browsing sporting a necklace by Houkāmau and posing for footage adorned with a chunk by Tekela-Smith. This open and fluid occasion expanded the standard viewers of Munich Jewelry Week. Individuals skilled totally different cultural pondering and totally different practices relatively than simply listening to about them.

Each occasions had been wealthy, informative, and interesting. The identical items had been seen and skilled in very other ways. They offered a extra sturdy understanding of the work, ideas, and phrases Moa, Tekela-Smith, and Houkāmau had been talking of. I took in a bigger perspective of the makers’ practices and the way the objects they make are a part of the work they’re doing and never the complete work itself. Attendance took longer than visiting an exhibition, however it was time well-spent, offering a less-is-more, quality-over-quantity expertise that I’m nonetheless unpacking as we speak.

Inevitably, within the conversations I’m in throughout Munich Jewelry Week, I hear some type of remark round how work is displayed, the way it all begins to mix collectively and appears like a method, or how the identical show instances are used on the similar locations yearly.

I agree, but on the similar time can’t lay blame or fault anybody’s lack of intention to do in any other case. Many artists journey from afar and are restricted in what they will transport or afford on high of house rental, journey, and lodging, all of which price extra yearly. The uniformity of show mechanisms in establishments forces a viewer to maintain their consideration on what’s within the vitrines as a substitute of what’s round them. This lends the works a type of equality within the instances, but in addition positions the article—and solely the article—as “the work.”

I don’t agree with the default selections constituted of the numerous prospects out there on the subject of show. The dominant story we regularly hear is of our shrinking discipline, heading for its deathbed. No marvel, once I see far too few efforts to have interaction with different audiences as jewellery works are tethered to a single format of publicity for the week. On a pessimistic day, it feels to me as if the sphere desires to sing its personal swan tune relatively than danger failure by partaking in radical experimentation. However then comes a glimmer of pleasure once I encounter one thing sudden.

I don’t promote this expertise as a definitive mannequin. There’s not one proper or fallacious technique to present and discuss work throughout Munich Jewelry Week. However this expertise gave me a better appreciation for the extra conventional exhibition of static work. The number of energies held my consideration, let me concentrate on the alternatives made in presenting work. The variability prevented all the things from blurring collectively.

The KOHĀ occasions are only one instance of an alternate method to displaying work in the course of the week. Their format furthered the conceptual features of the work. I felt privileged to get additional perception into Moa, Tekela-Smith, and Houkāmau’s practices. And what a pleasure to see how the totally different publics of Munich responded! But it surely was not the objects themselves that made this impression. The generosity of the makers and the individuals who warmly answered questions and invited others to take part allowed the work to be felt and never simply seen. This essay doesn’t do all of those actions full justice, however it’s the koha I give in gratitude to them.

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[1] “KOHĀ Ceremony: Activation, Efficiency,” Munich Jewelry Week, 2025, https://munichjewelleryweek.com/occasions/5383.

[2] Zoe Black, of Objectspace, an artwork gallery in Auckland, notes {that a} kohā ceremony just isn’t one thing conventional within the Māori world—relatively that koha is obtainable at totally different occasions. This format was formulated particularly for MJW and the context of the museum. Zoe Black in an e mail to matt lambert, Might 7, 2025.

[3] Dr. Hilke Thode-Arora to matt lambert, RE: Munich Query, 2025.

[4] “KOHĀ Moana: Activation, Efficiency,” Munich Jewelry Week, 2025, https://munichjewelleryweek.com/occasions/koha-moana.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.