I am lucky enough to work in a field where I am inspired by stories nearly every day! I am surprised by the journey of a photographer, the craftmanship of piece of delicate Chinese porcelain, the family backstories of artisans in India, the reasoning behind an art installation, even the design of an exhibition. Every story is, in the end, always a personal one. Hence why I love what I do.
Having a background in communications I know the importance of these stories and what happens when they resonate with an every increasingly smart audience. If the story is not authentic, audiences will (sometimes quite literally) not buy it! But if it is…it can lead to success.
Part of my business is bringing together these different stories. How can two make one and open up the world of Art & Antiques and culture to a wider audience.
In the ‘old days’ we use to call this sponsorship, today I prefer to call it partnerships. It is no longer about bringing money, audience reach and a logo together, that I call sales. It is about bringing two stories together that strengthen the message that you want to bring. It is about relevance, about emotion, about wonderment even. And sometimes the most beautiful stories come from an unexpected corner.
All of this is theory and my humble opinion, of course, I get that, so how do I approach this. Let me share an example, coming from an unexpected corner.
A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a beautiful collection of vintage photographs of Indian royal women. With my love for photography but also heading up a foundation focussing on female empowerment through education in India, I went on a search for this collection and the stories behind these women. No sooner as I had discovered where the collection was I went to India and knew that I wanted to tell the Foundation’s female empowerment story through an exhibition of the photographs of these women. Not only was I lucky enough that the collection was given on loan by way of donation to the Foundation, we were also lucky to exhibit pieces of old traditional Indian jewellery in the same style as seen in the photographs.
In this case, it was not two but three ‘stories’ that came together and were shared with a wider audience. What made the ‘fit’?
We wrote a story of strong, but seldom talked about, Indian women. Not only did they wear the most beautiful pieces of jewellery but they also truly stood and still stand for female empowerment in India. The audience was mesmerized and surprised. One looked at these women and their beautiful pieces in a different way and where made aware of the need of support of female empowerment in India.
In my mind one of the greatest stories I have been able tell.
IG @vgjewellery