/ Plata y Cobre

In Latin
America, the word plata -silver- is used many times instead of dinero-money-, perhaps because of the coins the Spanish brought and exchanged with
the peoples of the continent. The natives did not value money as currency, but
as the metal of which it was made.
In the
territories of present-day Chile, some of these coins were used by Mapuchecommunities to make jewelry. They redefined, or rather re-established the
original meaning of the use of silver as ornament.
It is
emblematic that the Chilean 100 pesos coin depicts the face of a Mapuchewoman wearing a “trarilonko”, a headband made of coins that have
returned to being silver.
“Plata y
Cobre” is inspired
by the same idea of re-signification by creating two pins that complement each
other. Starting with a 5 cent coin, copper particles extracted from its plating
reassemble to form uncanny crystalline structures in Brooche “Cobre”.
The remaining steel core of the coin, left free to react with the atmosphere,
is flooded with colour, regaining its mineral brilliance in Brooche “Plata”./
/Text by: Matteo Rapini./

/Mapuche woman. 100 chilean pesos coin./


/Plata Brooch, Editon of 15 pieces. Berlin 2022. Foto: Clara Gustavson/

/Cobre Brooch, Editon of 15 pieces. Berlin 2022./