Hypatia inspires the Mérida School of Design

The Mérida School of Art and Superior Design hosts the exhibition ‘Hipatia’ this month. In it you can see the jewels that have appeared in the play ‘Hipatia de Alejandría’, premiered last year at the Mérida Classical Theater Festival.

These jewels have been made by students of the Artistic Jewelery Workshop, a two-month course. Her teacher, Eva Dávalos, is a famous artistic designer from Villafranca de los Barros who has returned to her land after working outside the region.

Dávalos is a jeweler and makes her creations herself. She studied a higher cycle of Mosaic at this school in the capital of Extremadura. Seeing that she was passionate about the world of jewelry, she decided to go outside of it to study at the Atlantic School of Jewelry, in Vigo, Galicia.

Since then, the successes have been happening. She has several recognitions and honorable mentions, and has also been a finalist in national and international competitions.

On November 6, he achieved a great milestone, his designs paraded on the Spanish Fashion Week Madrid catwalk, before Pasarela Cibeles.

In May and June 2021, this workshop was held for the first time at the Mérida School of Design. During the first month, the students learned to design jewelery using numerous techniques, such as settings and threading, and materials, such as brass.

These designs made by the students are also in the exhibition and you can see necklaces, rings and earrings of free design.

When they received the commission to make the jewels for the theatrical performance, they got down to work, since the play premiered in July.

These designs made by the students were supervised by the production company of the play, Amarillo Producciones, who attended in person to see how these works were developed and see the evolution of the designs.

And the work paid off, they finished making the jewels just in time and went on stage. Some jewels were worn by the actors during the theatrical performance and others were placed in the flea market that appeared in one of the scenes of the play.

Students

Pura Martínez decided to sign up for this workshop because she found the jewelry making technique very interesting. This student has made a necklace inspired by the lotus flower with beads, and to make it she first documented the figure of Hypatia of Alexandria and the time in which she lived.

A teacher from the School of Art in the capital of Extremadura also decided to sign up because she could use these jewelry techniques in her classes and was interested in learning how to create jewelry. She is Carmen Méndez and teaches Computer Media.

Among some of his exposed designs are a ring with an embedded lapis lazuli and earrings inspired by the Alcázar of Seville that are shaped like a half moon. All those who want to enjoy this exhibition can do so in this center in the morning. It will be available until October 27. The next edition of this workshop will be held in October and will feature small groups of between five and seven people. Dávalos invites you to sign up as it can be an outlet for designers and creators. “Methods from other artistic disciplines can be applied to jewelry, it is enriching for art lovers,” says Dávalos.