Belgian artist wins Estonian art prize
The young Belgian jewellery designer and gemstone artist Octave Vandeweghe has won the Grand Prix at the 7th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial, with his work 'Cultured Manners'.
After an Estonian and a Lithuanian had taken second and third place respectively, our compatriot walked away with the main prize for his creation 'Cultured Manners'. Put simply, Vandeweghe creates artistic cutlery from gemstones. In the words of the expert jury, it would appear to be a successful combination of functionality and beauty: "The objects made from citrine, phantom quartz and verneuil sapphire bring together hi-tech and low-tech and contain tension between the synthetic and the natural".
The theme of the 7th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial was 'Time'. Vandeweghe is mainly fascinated by the prehistoric age and the utensils created during this period. For example, knives were the first utensils consciously created by humans for survival needs. In that sense, they are essential objects. Conversely, gemstones are primarily objects of beauty. With his cutlery created from gemstones, he plays with the contrast between the functional and the aesthetic. Vandeweghe's work can be seen up until 23 July 2017 at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design in Tallinn.