Artist in residence at The Museum for Jewellery, Silver and Diamonds in Antwerp, Belgium.

I have secured a three-month artist residency at DIVA – The Museum for Jewellery, Silver and Diamonds in Antwerp. During this time, I will develop a new series of jewellery works that explore historical ornament, ecological references, and the material vernacular of Aotearoa.

This residency will provide me with the space to create work within a world-class institution and grant access to specialised tools, equipment, and archives, unlike anything I have encountered in my career so far.

This extraordinary opportunity is only partially funded; your support will help cover the costs of travel, accommodation, and the high expense of precious materials.
Most importantly, your backing will make space for experimentation, a process that is rare and vital. It is in these open-ended moments of making that new directions emerge, forms evolve, and unexpected connections appear. You're not just supporting the outcome; you're investing in the process, a living, shifting practice rooted in material exploration and cultural inquiry, with long-term impact.

DIVA will exhibit the outcomes of the residency in March 2026, and my results will also be presented in Aotearoa later that same year.

Kia ora, I'm Moniek Schrijer, a contemporary jewellery artist based in Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai (Lower Hutt). I hold a Bachelor of Applied Arts (Jewellery) from Whitireia New Zealand. Works of mine are in collections of institutions such as Die Neue Sammlung (Germany), Te Papa Tongarewa, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (France). In 2016, I received a Herbert Hofmann Prize – one of the top prizes in contemporary jewellery.
My practice is grounded in material exploration, transforming new, second-hand, and found objects into sculptural jewellery and wall-based works that move between adornment, object, and installation. Using traditional and unconventional goldsmithing techniques and cross-disciplinary approaches, I often work at the intersection of flatness and dimensionality, reflection and opacity; I create pieces layered with reference points that seem to shift meaning over time, offering multifaceted readings that resist fixed interpretation. This residency at DIVA marks a pivotal moment to deepen my inquiry, pushing my work into new technical, conceptual, and cultural terrain.

Through this Boosted campaign, I aim to raise NZD 6,700 which, after Boosted's fees, is NZD 6,000 approximately NZD  (around €3,000). The funds raised will directly contribute to the total costs of undertaking a three-month residency in Antwerp. Costs include:

• International flights (NZ to Belgium): approx. NZD $3,300
• Accommodation in Antwerp for the duration of the residency (3 months): approx. NZD 6,800
• Materials (precious metals and other components, with rising costs): approx. NZD 5,000
• Living costs (food, transportation, daily necessities): approximately NZD 6,000

While this project focuses on experimentation, cultural exchange, and long-term growth, your contribution and support will help make it all possible.

During this residency, I will develop a new body of sculptural jewellery and object-based adornment that fuses ancient European ornamentation with the material language and sensibilities of my landscape and lived experience.
The DIVA residency offers access to tools, facilities, and technical support that are otherwise unavailable to me. I'm particularly excited to expand my emerging gem-cutting skills and to delve into the museum's modernist jewellery archives from the 1970s—an era defined by material innovation and radical experimentation. These facilities will also enable me to revisit and refine pressing, forging, and forming techniques, allowing for a shift toward more sculptural, spatially attuned forms.
 

Equally important is the opportunity to build relationships with international artists, curators, and communities. Antwerp's rich jewellery history and dynamic creative context will broaden my network and deepen my perspective, opening doors to future collaborations and cross-cultural exchange.
Ultimately, this residency is a reclamation of time: time to make, to research, and to challenge myself. The resulting work will explore cultural hybridity, value, and memory through the lens of a contemporary jewellery practice.

This residency connects my practice with Antwerp's deep jewellery traditions, a city with centuries of expertise in metals, gems, and technical innovation. By immersing myself in this context, I can situate my work within a lineage of historical craftsmanship while contributing a distinct, contemporary voice.
This project promotes cultural exchange and knowledge sharing across borders. It contributes to the visibility of contemporary art jewellers from this part of the world on the global stage, fostering new artistic relationships, strengthening networks and broadening the conversation around ornamentation, value, and cultural memory.
Your support will enable the creation of new work, time for focused research, and the development of new skills and techniques.