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Tonight was the opening of the Gallery Funaki International Jewellery Award 2008 Transformation. The award is testament to the international scene that Mari Funaki has been able to carve out of a lane in Melbourne. This award was given to the godfather of contemporary jewellery, Otto Künzli,  in a piece of reductive beauty in stainless steel, titled Spindle (seen on Mari to the left). 16 other finalists included five Germans, three Swiss and three Australians.

And last week in the post-Industrial suburb of Brunswick, Northcote Pottery launched their new Pan Gallery to promote emerging ceramicists. Coordinator of ceramics at RMIT Chris Sanders spoke optimistically of the future ahead for clay.

From the sleek Euro-aesthetic of Funaki Gallery, to proletarian directness of Northcote Pottery, craft covers quite opposite worlds in Melbourne. Making is a secret language that unites them both, in theory.