Sometimes a post leads to exciting encounters — that’s how journalist Christel Trimborn first became aware of us on social media. She wanted to know how our project started, why it is so well-received, and what happens in our workshop. Of course, we were happy to share a little bit about it:
“THE DEMAND IS THERE!”
The Berlin initiative Coopgold has been around for 15 years. Here, those interested can take their first steps in goldsmithing under professional guidance or deepen their existing craft skills. The demand is high.
What was the original idea behind founding Coopgold in 2010? “Our motivation and our wish is to preserve the goldsmithing craft and constantly renew it,” says Manuel Fritz, who, along with Sven Mahnkopf, is one of the initiative’s founding members. To this day, the two goldsmiths, together with numerous supporters, run the facility at the Aufbau Haus in Berlin-Kreuzberg, which features generously equipped workshops for twelve participants.
The permanent Coopgold team includes five instructors who guide participants in the regularly held basic courses, as well as well-known external experts for special workshops. The program features special courses on topics such as enameling (Nora Kovats), gemstone setting (Bianka Kotikawaththa), chasing (Gabriele Hinze), filigree (Susanne Matsché), or sand casting (Lars Hegny). The particularly popular workshops on "brooch making" by Daniela Malev are regularly booked out immediately after they are announced. “We’ve even had participants who traveled all the way from Australia for the course,” says Manuel Fritz.
Not least since Coopgold professionalized its social media activities, there has been a high demand not only for the special courses but also for the basic goldsmithing offerings. The weekly sessions consist of eight appointments, during which the fundamentals of the goldsmithing craft are taught—from sawing, filing, rolling, and bending to forging, annealing, and soldering. By the end, participants can design and create their own piece of jewelry. “Some participants come for years—simply for the joy of the craft and the creative process,” says Fritz.
The instructors have also made another observation: young people, in particular, are using the program to figure out their own capabilities. The founding duo is all the more pleased about the dedicated new talent in their own ranks: “We are especially happy to have young and, at the same time, truly talented goldsmiths who work as instructors for Coopgold and bring entirely new, fresh offerings with them!”
By the way, Coopgold is financed by its own means (course fees), which are partly reinvested into the workshop and equipment. “Sometimes, however, we are also very lucky and receive, for example, tools or furniture from a goldsmith studio, a dental laboratory, or a dental practice that has to close due to retirement,” reports Sven Mahnkopf. “Of course, we gratefully accept such gifts!”
An article by Christel Trimborn for the GZ Goldschmiede Zeitung
