Schmaltz: You Light Up My Life
Here in the Jewellery Quarter we are surrounded by love, our jewellery provides the love tokens that travel with us throughout our lives.
Sounds a bit "schmaltzy" but here at Quartermasters we believe there cannot be enough of this in the world. Light often comes from within and we are interested in what or who lights up your life.
We have 375 acrylic “ingots” ready and waiting, send us your “lighter upper” and we will engrave their name and yours for the world to see. The ingots will be displayed in the Jewellery Quarter during the Birmingham Light Festival, leave your ingot there or present it to your loved one after the festival.
To nominate your lighter upper, please complete the form linked below and you can find it via our Instagram bio. Beneath the gallery of our test ingot you will find out FAQs about the project.
You have between 14th January and 31st January to send us your nominations. Ingots are FREE.
To find out more about the first Birmingham Festival of Light and whats on in the JQ visit…
Birmingham Festival of Light
There are curated artworks, local artists and organisations getting involved across the city, you won’t want to miss checking something out!
JQ Common Room
A new consortium of local organisations, us included, are getting involved with a resident and business-led trail called ‘A Certain Kind of Light’ find out more to get involved pre-fest and visit during the festival weekend\1
FAQs
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Nothing it’s FREE!
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Yes, but only if you collect from Quartermasters in person in the Jewellery Quarter. Collection dates are TBD but all nominators will be contacted with collection information.
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We are aware of the origins of the word, its evolution through Yiddish, and the German word Schmelzen, meaning ‘melt’. From rendered chicken fat to salted herrings, it's the Hollywood sentimentalism of romance, joy and human connection which sees us using this word for this project.
Just as gold is smelted, remelted and formed, so are our hearts and the reasons so many people visit and shop in the Jewellery Quarter.
Our ingot shape represents the refined raw materials of the jewellery trade.
Our number of nominations, 375, represents the purity of 9ct gold.
We are using Baskerville font in honour of the typeface designed here in the 1750s.
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Don’t worry, each ingot will be numbered and its location mapped. ]
They will be certified by one of our Quartermasters before going on display in the Jewellery Quarter.
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They will be made in the JQ by Quartermaster Kirsty and her trusty laser cutter Bertha.
We are using mirrored acrylic so that the sun’s rays will bounce off the nominations cascading colour around the JQ.
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We are like Magpies hoarding shiny things. This installation may be one that we continue to develop.
We will safely store them as part of our project archives.