Wallace Chan Jewelry Art: Imagery, Emotions and Music

Sciences Po's School of Management and Innovation invited Wallace Chan, world renowned artisan jeweller for an exceptional conference on poetic aesthetics of jewelry art creation through three ever-interacting factors: imagery, emotions and music. Elia Sommerlad, Master's student at Sciences Po who attended the conference, shared her experience:

"Everyday is a clean slate—a muse of creativity and innovation—you must only will it." 

"Wallace Chan’s conference lifted my spirits, opened my eyes and whispered ever so clearly into my soul: everyday is a new day. Everyday you can look at the world with a fresh mind-set. Everyday is a clean slate—a muse of creativity and innovation—you must only will it.

When Mr. Chan began his speech my eyes and ears felt at peace—his straight posture, simple yet impactful black Classical Chinese coat, the long beard into which a myriad of memories seemed to be woven into, and his teasing smile, conveyed to me that Wallace Chan is an artist. He has intuition and extraordinary talent as an innovator, jeweller and ever-seeking, ever-wondering, world child.

Mr. Chan demystified the creative process for me – in a way, he provided us with the most insightful message about creativity that I have ever heard: if we open our eyes and see the world every day like a child, if we strive to maintain that curiosity and that ability to discern wonder in the most common of things, if we engage in this process everyday, and we commence by letting go of the pressures of yesterday’s achievements, then we will always be able to create.

Mr. Chan’s discourse was stimulating in a kaleidoscopic kind of way—it was a skillful melange of entrepreneurial wisdom and artistry. The visual identity of the soiree was impeccable; the photography of Chan’s creations and the short film featuring his artworks was enchanting.

The play of languages – switching from Cantonese to Mandarin and from Mandarin to English added to the allure of the evening. The language switches and the cultural specificities that come with them were preserved yet exposed, and we all had the chance to take part in this four-way (three spoken languages and the visual semantic) discourse.

While Mr. Chan was teaching us, I could sense that he was learning from us as well… maybe, just maybe, some of our sparkling and curious student eyes, the glistening of white teeth and the sound of clapping hands will inspire him as he continues to imagine his mesmerising creations.

"Sciences Po’s ability to break the boundaries of traditional teaching, to find value in the precious stories of others, and in doing so, to introduce into the minds of us students, curiosity for the unknown"

The opportunity to meet an artist such as Chan stands out as a unique yet harmonious experience among the many learning opportunities provided by Sciences Po. It marks for me Sciences Po’s ability to break the boundaries of traditional teaching, to find value in the precious stories of others, and in doing so, to introduce into the minds of us students, curiosity for the unknown, for the perhaps unreachable, and provide us with tools to release our true potential."

- Elia Sommerlad,  Master's student in "Communications, Media & Creative industries" at the Sciences Po School of Management & Innovation