"I am because we are"
Published By Logan Nye
In my short time as a jewelry professional I have seen some phenomenal pieces come out of our workshop, but this project really resonated with me. I generally tend to graviate towards geometric designs (it's in my nature) and was thrilled when we had a customer come in with this idea for a custom pendant. He described his vision of Ubuntu represented by a network of individual elements, all symbiotically joined in a harmonious way. There is something so ancient and universal surrounding this word and that is exactly what we tried to channel into the inspiration for this design.
He shared a story about what this word means in African culture...
There once was an anthropologist who had been studying the habits and culture of a remote African tribe.
He had been working in the village for some time and one day he put together a gift basket filled with delicious fruits from around the region and wrapped it with a ribbon. He placed the basket under a tree and then gathered up all the children in the village.
The man drew a line in the dirt, looked at the children, and said, “When I tell you to start, run to the tree and whoever gets there first will win the basket of the fruit.”
They all lined up and when he told them to run, they took each other’s hands and ran together to the tree. They then sat together, joined around the basket, enjoying their treat as a group.
The anthropologist was shocked. He asked why they would all go together when one of them could have won all the fruits for themselves?
A young girl looked up at him and said, “How can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?”
Whether we like to admit it or not, we are all fundemantally the same and interconnected in something much bigger than ourselves. We can't exist in isolation and depend on one another to contribute to the community we are all part of, each in our own unique ways. This design would not be able to achieve a visual sense of balance without each of the gemstones working together, interwoven in binding metal. The eight different colors of Sapphire on the perimeter are holding hands, running together towards the Blue Moonstone prize in the center, all shining bright and exclaiming, UBUNTU!