It’s the kind of anniversary that comes round as soon as in a century: Cartier is marking the one hundredth anniversary of considered one of its home icons, the Trinity, and, after pop-ups in Paris, London, New York, and most just lately Shanghai, the French luxurious maison is bringing its Trinity 100 pop-up to our shores. Operating from 15 to 23 July 2024 at The Arts Home, the seven-room exhibition particulars the historical past of the enduring design, from its origins (impressed by legendary artist Jean Cocteau), to its myriad types and incarnations over time, its shut affiliation with stars and celebrities, and ending off with a number of rooms devoted to commissioned artworks by creatives throughout numerous disciplines, together with movie, music, images, and extra.
Why has the Trinity continued to fascinate and encourage via the years? Yanina Novitskaya, CEO of Cartier SEA & Oceania, believes it might be due to the sturdy emotional connections that individuals kind with their Trinity items. “Fascinating reality: In case you have a look at the second-hand market, you’ll not discover so many Trinity items on the market,” she tells us. “Nobody resells it, as a result of—it’s easy—it stays with you; there’s a private which means (behind every bit).”
It’s exactly this sturdy emotional connection that the Trinity 100 pop-up is seeking to encourage with its Singaporean, and regional, audiences, and, having previewed the exhibition, I can vouch that it succeeds at each educating and firing up the 100-year-old icon within the creativeness as soon as once more. Forward of the centenary celebrations set to kick off in Singapore, Novitskaya sat down with me to speak in regards to the significance of getting the Trinity 100 celebrations in Singapore, the Singapore-inspired touches on this staging of the exhibition, and her personal private connection to the Trinity.
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Why did Cartier select to host the Trinity 100 pop-up in Singapore proper after Shanghai?
Yanina Novitskaya (YN): I feel it’s the primary time ever we’re [doing] this celebration at a real regional degree, and we’re very heartened and privileged that we get to host this occasion and invite friends from greater than 20 totally different cities—it’s not solely Southeast Asia and Oceania. We need to rejoice our anniversary, and we now have friends from Taiwan, from Tokyo, from Seoul, from India… So for us it’s an excellent second. I feel Trinity unites folks, brings forth connections, and provides us the chance to share tales. Actually, I’m very pleased that we lastly managed to do that.
I feel it’s not a shock, as a result of actually, if you happen to have a look at the inhabitants of the area, the nations which we cowl right here, and likewise the central position of Singapore—as a result of nonetheless for a lot of nations in Southeast Asia, Singapore is a frontrunner. On this metropolis, you’ve such a mixture of cultures and mindsets. I feel it’s actually a spot the place everybody needs to be, particularly after we see this connection and unity, so it’s a really logical selection.
I imply, we’re generally known as a melting pot of various cultures, and it actually makes a number of sense with the entire which means behind Trinity as properly. So what have you ever discovered in regards to the Singapore luxurious buyer? What do you assume that they search for in relation to Cartier?
YN: Yesterday, we kicked off the celebrations with our key purchasers and creatives who participated within the pop-up and within the celebrations, and what I can see within the purchasers right here, particularly in Singapore, is that they’re so dedicated to help totally different initiatives. All of them acquire artwork by native artists, they actually help younger artists, they help those that are most likely not recognised sufficient. I like very a lot how the artwork scene is growing in Singapore, or the biennale in Bangkok. And I can see that our purchasers listed below are deeply concerned and engaged with this agenda. So for me, it’s an awesome pleasure and I actually get pleasure from my skilled life right here, as a result of we are able to talk—not solely on the creations—but additionally our tradition and company initiatives. The purchasers are very numerous, very subtle, very properly educated when it comes to luxurious consumption, they usually perceive why traditions and craftsmanship are so valuable; why it’s a heritage for his or her children, and need to transmit this to the following era.
What do you assume is particular or totally different in regards to the pop up in Singapore, and the way it tells the story of the Trinity?
YN: I feel it’s fascinating how we mix totally different components, which we wished to focus on when it comes to their historic retrospective, and likewise totally different components behind the design. So you’ll uncover that the pop-up consists of a number of rooms and every of them has a specific goal, to inform you the story and to elucidate why, generally, immediately, we rejoice 100 years of the Trinity. As a result of it’s not solely [about] the design—after all, it was very daring and daring at the moment, but additionally [it was about] craftsmanship. I imply, the fluidity of those rings, and really deep which means behind it, the universality. It was the primary ring, I feel, to be common amongst women and men.
What are some Singapore-inspired touches that we are able to count on within the pop-up? Are there any Singapore-inspired touches?
YN: We began speaking about Singapore as a melting pot of various cultures, so what I like is that we now have not solely Singaporean artists—we now have Malaysian artists, Indian artists… The moderator of our discuss yesterday was Audrey Yeo, who’s the Director of the Artwork Galleries Affiliation in Singapore. I actually love that Audrey moderated the discuss for us, as a result of she’s an artist herself. Earlier than [the talk], we have been making an attempt to align on [the agenda]; what can be the primary goal? I mentioned, “Audrey, inform me, why do you assume that it’s essential?” She mentioned, “As a result of I need to carry extra consideration to the Singaporean artwork stage. In case you go to the US, they nonetheless love to purchase US artwork. Indonesians, very a lot give attention to Indonesian artists and their collections. However in Singapore, they’re so open-minded. In case you have a look at the collections, and I actually have entry to some collections, what I can see is that they’re shopping for very totally different artists.” So it’s nice after we do that [pop-up] in Singapore, we focus not solely on Singaporean artists however others, and we all know that purchasers or guests who will come to this exhibition as a result of it’s a brand new method to promote artists as properly.
Do you’ve a favorite paintings within the exhibition?
YN: It’s by an Australian photographer. Within the footage, you may see the pregnant girl; the pregnant mannequin. I didn’t know the story behind it, so I used to be like, [what is its connection to] Trinity? And I used to be occupied with this as a result of it’s additionally type of near my coronary heart—she’s pregnant, I’m a mum—so, [I could see] her, her child, however who else? And I used to be pondering that it’s most likely the following era, which we don’t see but. And after I met the photographer final night time, she defined to me that she [found out] she was pregnant with a daughter and that when the embryo was already at six months of age, the reproductive system is already created. So actually, all of the eggs for the longer term children are within the woman already, you realize, so it’s three generations. Are you able to think about that?
On a private word, what’s your favorite Cartier Trinity design?
YN: This ring could be very symbolic for me. Yesterday, we have been speaking with Rafael [Bonachela], who’s considered one of our creatives, the creative director of Sydney Dance Firm. He’s performing right here. I’m tremendous pleased that we introduced him from Australia. He has the identical ring, however we rejoice very various things with the identical ring. It’s stunning, as a result of he celebrates his love and partnership along with his accomplice, whereas I rejoice the start of my children, as a result of I acquired this ring one week after I discovered with my husband that we have been having twins.
My husband, he’s completely not concerned in luxurious—even if I’ve been working with Cartier for 17 years [laughs]—he doesn’t know all these components, historical past… nothing. However the story of why he selected the Trinity for me in 2014—it’s one black ceramic band and two white gold bands—was that he simply preferred that two rings are the identical color, and the black one dominates. And he mentioned, we nonetheless don’t know the gender of our children—we simply knew that it might be twins—however he already wished to have a good method to them. Why he selected this ring is as a result of there isn’t any distinction, it’s related: The 2 white rings symbolize our children, and we’re one, and all, linked. So that you see they’re very various things however we rejoice with the identical ring. Once I noticed Rafael yesterday, it’s not one thing that we had ready. So it’s superb.
The Trinity 100 pop-up is open to the general public from 15 to 23 July 2024 at The Arts Home (1 Outdated Parliament Lane) and admission is free. Guide your appointment right here.
This interview has been edited and condensed for readability.
Reporting help by Nicole Ng
This story initially appeared on Grazia.Sg
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