Are you crazy about jewelry? Have you always wanted to have a taste of the beautiful goldsmith’s craft? Come file, hammer, forge, sand, solder… and get your hands dirty! The result: you proudly go home with your own ring.
Hade Quaghebeur has over 15 years of experience as a goldsmith. She makes out-of-the-box jewelry from precious metal. Her original, self-designed pieces are handmade in her own studio in the heart of Brussels. An architect by training, she views her jewelry as miniature buildings. In addition to her own collection, she also creates custom pieces.
She likes to pass on her passion: she has been a goldsmith teacher at Syntra Brussels for many years. She also teaches private jewelry workshops for beginners in her studio on the Grand Hospice site in the heart of Brussels. The jewelry workshops take place in small groups in Dutch-French-English.
This workshop is made possible by Erfgoedcel Brussel.
You are introduced to the flexibility of a willow twig. In combination with the wind you will have a nice item. At home it brightens up your garden or terrace.
As a basket weaver, Jeanny Bouwen works with the one-year-old twigs of the willow. These are grown around her workshop and she processes them into user-friendly baskets. You can contact her for restoration repairs and custom work. From a laundry basket to a picnic basket, from a picking basket to a cradle.
Her son and Jeanny specifically specialized in fine shin work. In fine shin work, willow branches are split with a splitting wood, then cut to width and thickness on a planing bench, down to the millimeter, and then processed into a basket around a wooden mould. A labor-intensive technique that results in gemstone baskets.
In 2013, Jeanny Bouwen started her own company and Mandenmakerij De Ratelaar opened its doors.
It has been clear for years that her son shares this passion. His real passion lies in fine shin work. Because of his enthusiasm, they followed a two-year course together with Esmé Hofman from 2019 to 2021.
“Our basketry wants to be a safe place for willow, people and craft. It is a warm place where you can smell and feel willow. This willow invites you to adopt a flexible attitude towards our current consumer society. We see it as our mission to make a transition to the future in this way, with great respect for the old techniques.”
Jeanny now shares this passion through baskets, workshops and demonstrations in the Bokrijk Open Air Museum.
This workshop is made possible by Bokrijk.
A textile designer, also called a ‘Surface Designer’, designs motifs and patterns that decorate all kinds of surfaces. Think of fabrics, wallpaper, ceramics, etc. These range from simple geometric motifs to complex winding branches between flower and leaf.
The trick is to make motifs flow seamlessly into each other so that they can repeat themselves in all directions ad infinitum. One such repetitive piece is called a ‘report’. A bit comparable to how bricks repeat themselves in a wall.
Sound complicated? Come discover it and try it for yourself! Using existing prints and practical examples, Margot explains what a report is and how to look for it. Did you catch it? Then you can cut out a motif yourself and paste it repeatedly on paper. If you want, you can draw and finish with marker. Afterwards you take the bundle of prints home with you along with your own design.
Margot Billiet has been active in the international world of textiles and decoration for 30 years. With Atelier Billiet she not only designs new drawings, but also specializes in reconstructions of historical or old motifs for custom-made wall coverings or textiles.
“As a classically trained textile designer, I learned the trade in the traditional way with pencil on tracing paper and finishing with brush and gouache. I specialize in drawing designs and motifs that can be seamlessly repeated in all directions and ad infinitum. I work both manually and with the computer, in all possible styles. The knowledge I have gained during my 30-year career as a ‘surface designer’ encouraged me to develop a more sustainable and thoughtful approach. Not an abundance of products, but small runs in high-quality materials. Making what is necessary. I recently started delving into something that has been an interest for years: historical reproduction techniques and reconstructions of patterns. I mainly focus on wallpaper and use a combination of digital printing and screen printing. I work to order for companies and private individuals.”
This workshop is made possible by Handmade in Brugge.
Pysanky are colored and decorated Easter eggs. At Easter, these decorated eggs, which symbolize wishes, are given to family and friends.
During the workshop we will write a pysanka using the batik technique. With a pencil we make a rough division on a full egg (raw egg). We cover what should not be colored with a special pen (kystka) filled with beeswax. We then immerse the egg in a dye bath and repeat the previous operation per color. When the egg is completely colored and dry, we remove the beeswax by melting it over a candle.
Loeba Rozak was born in Hasselt and lives in Houthalen, she is of Ukrainian descent and has always been fascinated by pysanky and has dedicated herself to it.
Karel Goetghebeur is a saxophone repairer and builder from Belgium. He is the owner of the saxophone brand Adolphe Sax & Cie. In 2012, more than 80 years after the world-famous brand ceased to exist, Karel obtained the rights to the name Adolphe Sax and decided to revive the brand.
He prefers not to make just shiny saxophones, but unique instruments with their own character. He is currently working on a recycling and peace project where he is making a limited edition series of saxophones from molten down bomb casings from WWI and WWII. These casings were molten down in Zutphen (NL).
In this introductory workshop, Karel will show you how to better maintain, diagnose and, where possible, solve basic problems with your instrument yourself. We’re going to talk about pads, resonators, damping agents, and more! We will use a conveniently made “leak light” to look for “leaks” and find out how we can fix them. After the workshop you will receive your own “leak light” so that you can better identify (and solve!) problems in the future.
Tip: feel free to bring your own saxophone.
This workshop was made possible by Handmade in Brugge.
