Jewellery design contest opens for submissions
Are you a local jewellery designer? Have you been dreaming about seeing one of your precious exquisite pieces showcased and scrambled for by celebrities and the elites at the international stage?If you have answered yes to the above, then sharpen your pencils, and dust off your design kit as the 2018/2019 Shining Light Awards are back.
The competition that is open to all jewellery designers is celebrating ten years in Botswana. It is open to jewellery designers in the four countries where De Beers Group mines diamonds, and these consist of Namibia, South Africa, Canada and Botswana.
The theme for the latest edition of the competition is Heroines and Heritage, and the organisers are looking for pieces that have feminine elements that speak to women, that evoke national pride as well as have symbols of strength, heritage, wisdom and beauty.
Closing date for submission of entries is January 31st 2019. Winners of the Shining Light Awards will participate in a 12-month apprenticeship programme in Milan, Italy and runners-up will win a 3-month internship program at Forevermark or a design programme at a local design school.
“The Shining Light Awards have proven to be a valuable design platform to showcase talent and open opportunities for young people within the diamond sector and international markets. This is in-line with De Beers Group objectives on beneficiation through skills development of the youth,” says Stephen Lussier, Executive Vice President at De Beers Group and CEO of Forevermark in a press release.
According to Pat Dambe, Vice-President of Corporate Affairs and Government Relations, De Beers Global Sightholder Sales, they have just concluded roadshows to all the four De Beers Group producer countries, where they visited various universities to present to design students. Reception has been great, she says. She explains that over the years, they have seen high quality submissions and they anticipate the response will be even greater this year.
She further says that the De Beers Designers Initiative has created the opportunity for the Shining Light Awards winners to attend the Faculty of Design at Milan Polytechnic as part of the company’s youth beneficiation strategy.“We are very happy to have taken this forward into a scholarship programme to include Batswana, Namibians, South Africans and Canadian participants with aspirations to participate in the downstream of the diamond industry,” says Dambe.
Constantino Papadimitriou, Head of Brand Strategy and Innovation at De Beers Forevermark, highlights that over the years, they have seen how the Shining Light Awards have presented students with a great opportunity to develop their skills in jewellery manufacturing.
“We are looking forward to seeing the journey they take in interpreting the theme and bringing it to life. It is most gratifying that as a result of this competition, we will now see winners enrolled through the Forevermark Design School in Milan, signifying the growth of the programme since inception,” says Papadimitriou.