JEWELLERY TOUR with SOPHIE CARNELL
7 – 21 November 2026
Enjoy the art, architecture, food and music, as we explore Marrakech and traverse the fantastic landscape of the Atlas Mountains and Sahara on this unique holiday that will have a focus on traditional and contemporary jewellery in Morocco.
Design your own piece and cast silver in the Sahara!
Sophie Carnell, Glochidion ferdinandi/Cheese tree – detail (silver)
Sophie Carnell, Tea at in the atrium, suite of ice-cream spoons in vintage case. Sterling silver.
Sophie Carnell in Morocco
Memories of Morocco, Sophie Carnell
casting silver in the Sahara
A successful pour!
Master artisan stokes the forge
Sophoe Carnell, Velleia paradoxa/Spur velleia (fine & sterling silver)
Sophie Carnell, Eighteen litres (milk bottles, brass)
Travelling with our special guest artist, sculptural silversmith and jeweller, Sophie Carnell you will have an opportunity to draw inspiration from your journey and immersion into the fabulous Moroccan landscape and culture. Through instruction, demonstration, problem solving and discussion Sophie will support you to design, develop and create your own unique piece of jewellery. You will take away a piece (or pieces!) of jewellery that will be forever imbued with memories of this exciting tour.
Perched on the North West tip of Africa, Morocco is endowed with a rich and complex cultural history where the indigenous Amazigh (Berber) people maintain a strong connection with the land, their ancient traditions and lifestyle. A major trade route bringing riches from the Sahara, the jewellery shows a multitude of influences and resources including Middle-Eastern, sub-Saharan and European materials and techniques.
Primarily an immersive Cultural Tour, we aim to find a balance between having a great holiday and gathering inspiration for art making. Travelling companions not participating in the jewellery activities are welcome and will find plenty to occupy them along the way. Accommodation is provided in the most comfortable traditional guesthouses, where we will enjoy the extraordinary delights of Amazigh food, hospitality, traditional arts and music.
Some days will involve guided tours, interesting drives through spectacular landscape or time to relax, while other days will devote more time to exploring a variety of jewellery techniques and styles that abound in Morocco.
Participants will be able to explore the workshops and souks, antique and contemporary jewellery artisans and traders, as well as metal workers who use a range of associated techniques such as piercing, folding, engraving and embossing to create jewellery and decorative and functional household items. We will visit superb historic collections including the mind boggling Musee des Artes de la Parure and Yves Saint Laurent’s collection at the Musée Berbére which will give us a solid grounding in the rich traditions in jewellery trade and production.
Our guest artist Sophie will share her skills and expertise in developing design concepts inspired by the natural landscape and Amazigh art and culture, in simple workshops that will allow you to gather ideas and resources for your own work. Walks in the Atlas Mountains and oasis valleys together with the exploration of rich artisanal traditions will inform design ideas with the aim to create your primary piece en route. This individual design will incorporate a constructed form to be cast in silver at a unique workshop in the Sahara, where we will work with Amazigh craftsmen using a traditional method with sand moulds and a charcoal pit fire. There will be the opportunity to create more elements using supplied silver sheet and wire and a variety of simple techniques that can then can be integrated into your primary piece, or function as separate wearables.
Traveling with like-minded people and an experienced team of co-hosts including Australian artist Rita Lazauskas and professional Amazigh Guide Abdenabi (Abdou) Imelouane, the program offers an innovative and creative way to explore a new place that is stimulating, supportive and safe.
This workshop is suitable for beginners and those with silversmithing experience.
Sophie Carnell
About SOPHIE CARNELL
Sophie Carnell is a silversmith living and working on lunawanna-alonnah / Bruny Island, Tasmania. Working primarily in responsibly sourced Australian silver Sophie also often incorporates diverse found natural and man-made elements into her work, anything from driftwood to plastic beach debris or antique books to glass.
Central to Sophie’s art practice is an exploration of belonging, the landscape in which we live and our interconnectedness with the environment. This may manifest as intricate studies of endangered plant life – highlighting and accentuating its preciousness both through the use of scale and her chosen medium – or interpreting histories of lives long gone using unique materials that hold and convey layers of meaning.
Sophie has exhibited widely in Tasmania and the mainland and her work is held in many private collections locally and internationally. In 2021 in collaboration with Sarah Rayner she won the Toowoomba Contemporary Wearables Award. `Among other accolades she has been a finalist in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize (2024, 2018, 2014), the York Botanic Art Prize (2021) and the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize (2015). She has won residencies on King Island (TAS), Bundanon (NSW) and Inis Oírr (Ireland). Sophie is exclusively represented by Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert, Sydney.
www.gallerysallydancuthbert.com