In order to collectively conclude the tenth edition of CRIC – Festival for Critical Culture, we invite you to a multidisciplinary event consisting of an exhibition, presentations, a panel discussion, and a demonstration, titled “Experimental Archaeology: Design as a Bridge Between the Past, Present, and Future.”

The event will open with a jewelry exhibition by the Macedonian artist Biljana Klekackoska. Bearing the same title, the exhibition provides the material and visual dimension of the event, creating a space for direct experience and reflection on the themes that will be explored during the panel discussion.

Through the exhibited works — jewelry created using traditional techniques or inspired by ancient motifs and methods — visitors can tangibly experience the dialogue between the past and the contemporary, which lies at the heart of the discussion. The exhibition serves as a living laboratory of ideas, where experimental archaeology transforms into a creative practice: traditional artisanal knowledge is reinterpreted through contemporary design, revealing how cultural heritage can become a source of innovation rather than merely an object of preservation. In this context, the panel discussion gains a broader and deeper meaning, as it unfolds not only on a theoretical level but is rooted in concrete artistic objects and practices.

In recent years, experimental archaeology has evolved from a purely scientific method into a vibrant field of creative and critical exploration. Traditionally used to reconstruct ancient techniques and tools in order to understand past civilizations, today it extends into art, design, and cultural reflection. This approach bridges the gap between research and creation, allowing artists, archaeologists, and craftspeople to reimagine the material traces of history. By experimenting with ancient jewelry-making methods, we do not only recreate objects from the past, but we question how cultural heritage is preserved, transformed, and reinterpreted in the present.

“Experimental Archeology: Design as a Bridge Between the Past, Present, and Future” explores this intersection between knowledge and making, between tradition and innovation. The project invites the audience to experience the living continuity of craftsmanship, where each gesture and material carries both memory and potential. Experimental archaeology, in this sense, becomes a way to connect with our collective past while envisioning new cultural futures — rooted in care, curiosity, and shared human desire to create meaning through matter.

Today, when design and the creative industries maintain a continuous dialogue with cultural heritage, jewelry becomes a powerful medium for transmitting historical narratives into the future. Through the rediscovery of techniques, the use of traditional materials and motifs, and the integration of new technologies and innovative approaches, new works emerge that blur the boundary between the past and the contemporary.

The panel discussion opens the question of how contemporary jewelry can be understood as a living archive, a medium that carries the memory of historical techniques, traditional knowledge, and ancient symbols, placing them within new and contemporary contexts. Through demonstrations and dialogue, the project invites the audience to experience jewelry as both an artifact of memory and a gesture toward the future — a bridge between heritage and contemporary creativity.

The following day, on November 2 at 12:00 PM, the program will continue with a curated tour of the exhibition and a demonstration of traditional jewelry-making techniques, led by Biljana Klekackoska. This practical segment allows visitors to directly engage with the process of creation, to experience the skill, patience, and sense of materiality that connect artisanal tradition with contemporary artistic expression. In this way, the demonstration completes the project as a whole, transforming experimental archaeology into a living experience of learning, creation, and dialogue with cultural heritage.

Saturday, November 1, 2025
7:00 PM 7:00 – 7:15| Opening of the exhibition
7:15 – 7:30| Presentation “Technological research at the Canellopoulos Museum, Athens” by PhD.Nikos Papadimitriou
7:30 – 7:45| Presentation “Byzantine jewelry technology and Experimental Archaeology: Insights from a gold earring reconstruction” by МА.Sofia Gerogiorgi
7:55 – 8:45| Public discussion: “Experimental Archaeology – Jewelry as Contemporary Cultural Heritage”Participants: MA Biljana Klekackoska, МА.Sofia Gerogiorgi, PhD.Nikos Papadimitriou, Prof.Irena Teodora Vesevska
Moderator: Tijana Ana Spasovska

Sunday, November 2, 2025
12:00 PM Guided tour of the exhibition and demonstration of traditional jewelry-making techniques
Demonstrator: Biljana Klekackoska