Resident from September 1, until December 1, 2025
Lars Joosten, a jewellery designer from Belgium, researchers how form, techniques and material can challenge and enhance each other. Wat drives him the most is the longing for understanding systems, to commemorate and to unlock. For him, jewellery is more than wearable objects: they are carriers of tension, between function and meaning, tradition and innovation, the visible and invisible technique that keeps everything together.
Joosten’s practices are characterised by the specific attention for mechanic elements like hinges, fastenings, friction and balance. He does not see these technical aspects as just a practical solution, but also as shaping and meaningful parts. He thinks the way something fastens, moves or holds hides a story of connection, worth and relationship.
The residency at DIVA offers Lars the chance to explore his research in more depth, in dialogue with the rich collection and archive. Especially the historical fastening techniques, moving parts and functional details inside jewellery and silver ware speak to him the most. He wants to study forgotten or barely used techniques and activate them in a contemporary context, not by repeating them literally, but by establishing new ways of application.
During his stay, Lars experiments with alternative ways of attaching, fastening and wearing in jewellery designing, without going back to the classic setting. He researches how objects can hold, clamp, enclose or balance, where the mechanics themselves become both form and meaning. This leads to prototypes, studies and wearable objects.
For Lars, the residency at DIVA is more than just a technical challenge: it is a change to step out of his usual thinking patterns and make space for experiments, failure and discovery. He sees DIVA as a laboratory for craftmanship and imagination, where heritage and contemporary practices meet one another. Lars wants to deepen his fascination for mechanics and construction, while also question tradition, meaning and value in jewellery designing.
