Amber Listserv / Amberif 2007

Thu Apr 5 14:18:20 EDT 2007

Well everyone,

the five days went by sooo fast!

The biggest news in my opinion were the absence of the representatives of
Kalliningrad's amber mine. At least I have not seen them- their booth used
to have a huge display of amber lumps in the main hall.
Could this correlate with all the stories I heard of Chinese buyers showing
up at the mine with cash in hand? Touring the mine is out of question at
this time, it is secured by armed guards and no permits are issued at all as
I have found out.
Where there is demand, supply will follow: Ukraine government has sent
representatives to ask for advice on issuing 100 licences to small
businesses for amber mining.
There was one supplier of Ukrainian Baltic amber offering rough material in
5 size grades.
That amber looks so different, so cool!
Dark, blackish crust, many broken pieces showing butterscotch and cherry
colors inside. Just beautiful!
Also, one of the science seminars was on Ukrainian amber deposits and the
interesting facts are that these are original deposits formed in its own
original delta, not stuff moved from up north by ice.
http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5453ax6.jpg

In all the amber jewellery displayed and traded one could readily see more
and more Ukrainian Baltic amber used. What's more important in my opinion is
that it was left untreated for its beautiful coloration. I have even seen
pieces with a lot of blue color in it.
Electronos 2007- Amberif Design Award was judged earlier (
http://amberif.mtgsa.pl/x.php/3,en,3110/Elektronos-2007.html ). Winner of
the second place, Dorota Kos is my favorite designer this year as well. I
had the pleasure of examining her entry piece first hand and can only say
that the published photos do not show the work in any meaningful way. I hope
my pictures are better! Also, I understand that Museum of Modern Art (NY)
has purchased some of her pieces during this Amberif.
http://img253.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5182lu0.jpg
http://img295.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5171zo0.jpg
http://img352.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5186xi2.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5200ds5.jpg
http://img468.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5208vi2.jpg
http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5214pj1.jpg
http://img248.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5203bf3.jpg

Another event accompanying Amberif is the Fashion and Amber Gala held at
Baltic Philharmonic Hall where 8 design and jewellery duos presented their
work. The shows such as Steel Transfigurations, Can you Imagine, Fine Line,
Techno Nature, Modernised Middle Ages, Stardust, CASHEBE and mikro MAKRO
DELHI dazzled with sounds, sights and often provocative models.
http://amberif.mtgsa.pl/x.php/3,en,3205/Photo-gallery-p.I.html
http://amberif.mtgsa.pl/x.php/3,en,3207/Photo-gallery-p.II.html
(to be honest, I remember the show as a lot more interesting and expressive-
my pictures were taken from some 60' away and withouth flash!)
Many awards were given out during the show.
http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/2765/img5765ats0.jpg
http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/8240/img5725adb7.jpg
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/9341/img5648awp0.jpg

Thanks to my new friends in Gdansk I was able to observe hydraulic method of
obtaining amber from some 24' depth underground. As well as take pictures
and collect samples. Quite an experience. What's more it happened to be the
same outfit and the same locality in Wislinka as pictured in books and
articles by prof. Kosmowska- Ceranowicz from some 15 years ago.
The amber was so unbelievably clear and golden in color, my pictures give it
too much reddish tint I think.
http://img411.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5544ms6.jpg
http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5557rq3.jpg
http://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5572og0.jpg
http://img403.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5600hc8.jpg

I finally toured the new Amber Museum, part of Historical Museum of City of
Gdansk located in the old Torture Tower (Katownia).I had an invitation to
the opening ceremony as one of the donors, but could not make the trip at
that time... Not quite well accessible to older or disabled persons as the
original winding staircase is steep and uneven, but what an experience! Some
of the niches showcase torture or execution tools and methods- the museum
rooms are super modern and present the art objects extremely well. I was
impressed. Too bad that the Myrta pieces the Museum had on loan were already
removed. Some think they are too large or busy, but I would still like to
see them first hand. Having some 600 000 visitors this first season, they
already have plans to expand and move to a new facility.
In mid-November 2006, when Donald Kuspit, the famous American art critic
visited the Tri-City; he said that even New York hasn't got such an original
and interesting institution as the Gdańsk Amber Museum.
http://amberif.mtgsa.pl/x.php/3,en,1136/The-Amber-Museum.html
http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/2651/img5354sj0.jpg
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/1819/img5259wn2.jpg
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/2764/img5274bg8.jpg
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/1013/img5291ne1.jpg

And on the last day (actually 7th day) I went for a trip to the beaches at
the Baltic Sea, all the way towards the Russian border, in Piaski a small
fishing/ vacation resort village. Rather cold and overcast day, but we were
able to find couple of handfuls of amber nuggets among the wood and shells
debree lining along the shore. My friend, an entomologist has found a fly, a
spider and one ceratopogonidae inclusions! Lot's of fun and the air- just
awesome air I could not breathe in enough of it!
http://img70.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5840yr8.jpg
http://img107.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5839ql4.jpg

I had the pleasure of sharing most of these experiences with a guest from
the States whos visit to Poland was his first, and I hope not the last one.
As I'm sure he is reading these words- thanks for putting up with all the
after-hours activities- for a group of people who have never seen each other
before, and do not necessarily speak same language- we sure had lots of fun!
Also hello to Andzia! It was great to see you at the banquet again! (PS I
have some pictures for you too!)

As sizing down many pictures takes time, I will just add links so you can
view them at your pleasure. I hope I am using the right ones.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://ambericawest.com/pipermail/amber_ambericawest.com/attachments/20070405/c0a61628/attachment.html 