Exhibition Review: Swords into Ploughshares : Knives into Jewels

The ubiquitous knife: a household object, essential tool, barely noticeable until it is involved in crime. What happens when you give a knife sequestered by police to an artist, jeweller, metalsmith or maker? Sword into Ploughshares: Knives into Jewels presents answers to this question through the works of : Dauvit Alexander / Boris Bally / Petra Bishai / Stephen Bottomley / Tim Carson / Norman Cherry / Jens Clausen / Rachael Colley / Eimear Conyard / Robert Coogan / Rosie Deegan / Jeff Durber / Ndidi Ekubia /Cristina Filipe / Daniel Freyne / Anna Gordon / Herman Hermsen / Jorge Manilla / Patrick McMillan / Nanna Melland / Eliana Negroni / Rohan Nicol / Ted Noten / Cóilín O’Dubhghaill / Komelia Okim / Peter Parkinson / Annelisse Pfeifer / Jo Pond / Alex Pole / Elizabeth Shaw / Rebecca Skeels / Risto Tali / Taavi Teevet / Fred Truus.

This exhibition review presents a body of socially engaged artwork which addresses the issues of knife crime through transforming knives into symbolic artefacts. It outlines the fundamentals of the project co-curated by joint lead artists Dauvit Alexander and Norman Cherry and discusses the relationship between contemporary art practice and social political issues. It analyses the work through the lens of transformation, firstly within the context of art activism and secondly through the alchemy of the maker’s process. It argues that the exhibition speaks to a wide range of audiences about their part in positive social transformation.