São Paulo – Rio de Janeiro’s jewellery designer Lívia Canuto has just released Arabia, a collection of items inspired by Arab architecture. There are nine items made from gold and silver, including wedding rings, rings, earrings, and a necklace.
Canuto says she did not travel to Arab countries to do research; instead, she searched for images online and in books. “I took my inspiration for the collection from architecture, especially the mashrabiya, which are a type of latticework wall that was designed to protect women from male eyes,” she says.
Research work to design the items took roughly three months. “I studied the shapes, researched images, and began making tests.” According to Canuto, she transposed the concept of mashrabiya into wedding rings, taking her cue from the delicacy and strength of Arab temples, which she believes are connected to the feminine. “I have paid homage to women in this collection. Women have an eye for detail and a delicate way that is widely present in Arab culture,” she says.
The holder of a degree in industrial design, Canuto has combined her academic knowledge and her taste for sculptures to start working with jewels. “With jewels I can combine sculpture and design to create items for my customers,” she says.
Twelve years ago, she set up company Ateliê Lívia Canuto, under which she makes her items and teaches classes in goldsmithery and jewel design. She does not export her productions, but she is taking her work overseas by going to fairs in Italy, Portugal and Germany.
She says she is also interested in selling her items in the Arab countries. “I believe it is a potential market because they buy a lot of gold,” she claims. Canuto’s work may be bought directly from her studio in Rio de Janeiro on from her Facebook page (http://migre.me/eumJF). Arabia collection items’ prices range from R$ 390 to R$ 3,900 (US$ 194 to US$ 1,940).
Contact
Ateliê Lívia Canuto
Tel.: +55 21 2537-6359
Website: www.liviacanuto.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
