Preservation of the Berber Kabylian culture through displacement and innovation
In the creative and production processes of his pieces, Karim Oukid relives memories and methods of ancient Kabylian jewelers in symbiosis with his own sensitivity and know-how.
More than mere works of decoration or aesthetic ornaments, Karim’s jewels draw rivers, mountains, colors and flowers and they also represent poems, stories, flavors and his deep love for his homeland.
Karim was trained at the School of Decorative Arts in Tizi Ouzou, Algeria as well as in the workshops of master craftsmen in Kabylia. He settled in Barcelona in 2002 and since then he has been working in this city as a jeweler and a jewelry teacher. Since 2004 he teaches courses of Kabylian Berber Jewelry at the Massana School in Barcelona and in several other schools both nationally and internationally.
He has exhibited his work in several solo and group exhibitions, for example at the Museum of Ethnology in Barcelona, La Pedrera (Barcelona), at different embassies and since 2011 he exhibits at the Folk Art Market, Santa Fe (United States).
Karim has given numerous conferences, among them “La Filigrana en la Jerez Berber” in Povoa de Lahnoso (Portugal), “The Aesthetics of the body in North Africa” in the Egyptian Museum of Barcelona as well as other conferences on Berber crafts throughout Spain, Chile and in the United States.
In 2014 Karim received the Master Craftsman of Catalonia diploma and two years later he was finalist in the Living Traditions category awarded by the International Folk Art Alliance.
Generally, Karim uses silver, cooked enamels and Mediterranean coral in a responsible way, but he also incorporates and experiments with different metals, other precious stones, wood and porcelain.
In the creative and production processes of his pieces, Karim relives memories and methods of ancient Kabylian jewelers in symbiosis with his own sensitivity and know-how.
More than mere works of decoration or aesthetic ornaments, Karim’s jewels draw rivers, mountains, colors and flowers and they also represent poems, stories, flavors and his deep love for his homeland.
Publications
Chapter Fibula de la Kabylia in ‘Técnicas Básicas: Aula de Joyería’. Editor Carles Codina. Ed Parramón, Barcelona, 2009.
Artículo “África. La estética del cuerpo, toda una cultura” in the magazine Arte y Joya in collaboration with Úrsula Viñolas. Ed. Grupo Duplex, Barcelona, 2008.
Rings. Editor Nicolás Estrada. Ed. Promopress, Barcelona, 2011.
Earrings. Editor Nicolás Estrada. Ed. Promopress, Barcelona, 2013.
Brooches. Editor Nicolás Estrada. Ed. Promopress, Barcelona. In press.
The Work of Art. Folk Artists in the 21st Century. Editor Carmella Padilla. Ed. IFAA Media, Santa Fe, USA 2013.
Would you like to learn more about this artist? Would you like to enquire about art jewelry pieces available? Would you like to commission / co-create a piece with him?
Get in touch! marta@tamagit.com