Yasmin Zehavi is a contemporary jewellery designer renowned for her innovative silversmithing techniques, which bridge the preservation of endangered crafts, the processing of memory in colonial and post-colonial societies, and ecological sustainability. She views these struggles as inherently interconnected within the socio-political realities of the 21st century. Her artistic journey began with a quest to uncover her family's goldsmithing heritage in Algeria, despite the absence of documented personal narratives. This exploration revealed the role of jewellery as man-made fossils, offering profound insights into the cultures from which they emerge. This revelation informs her creations, drawing inspiration from prehistoric adornments and shells, which held intimate connections with their owners through wear and burial, reimagining these traditions for contemporary contexts.

Guided by this vision, Zehavi has pioneered techniques that blend traditional methods, such as soldering and cutting, with her own innovations, emphasising sustainability by eliminating material waste. She meticulously utilises entire silver sheets, consciously avoiding processes that generate excess material. Her chosen medium is pure silver, selected for its enduring qualities, reflecting her belief in the jeweller’s role as a chronicler who preserves and perpetuates human connections across generations.

After graduating from the Department of Jewelry and Fashion at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Zehavi’s final project, Petrification, was showcased at Schmuck, the world’s most prestigious art jewellery exhibition, held in Munich, Germany. She has also been selected to present her work at leading exhibitions worldwide. Through her innovative approach and profound appreciation for the historical significance of adornment, Zehavi continues to craft pieces that resonate with cultural memory, exceptional craftsmanship, and sustainability.

My artistic practice draws profound inspiration from prehistoric jewellery and shells, which were worn, buried, and discovered intertwined with their owners. These organic pieces, fused with human skeletons, create a new kind of anatomy where jewellery becomes an intrinsic part of the wearer’s life story. Each piece serves as an eternal biography, evoking empathy and connection with individuals from millennia ago, and standing as a testament to the society in which it was created. For me, jewellery serves as a man-made fossil, offering an authentic glimpse into the culture of my family, who were goldsmiths in Algeria until the country's liberation from French occupation in 1962.

I work with pure silver, an eternal material, to express the jeweller’s role in preserving human connections across millennia. My technique aims to produce no material waste, utilising whole silver sheets with traditional methods of cutting and soldering, deliberately avoiding actions that generate excess material. This sustainable approach echoes the timeless and enduring nature of the artefacts that inspire my art, capturing a sense of movement frozen in time, akin to an organic fossil.