Matthieu Cheminee

“I was born and grew up in Paris, France. My interest in metalsmithing started at 19 when I moved to Taos, New-Mexico where I studied Navajo, Zuni and Hopi techniques and traditions, especially Navajo stamp work. I was then drawn to work in West Africa. When I moved to Mali, I studied Touareg, Fulani and other techniques that have been passed from one generation to another in the apprenticeship tradition. In the modern world, these techniques are getting lost and I was moved to attempt to preserve them by writing a book called "Legacy, jewelry techniques of West Africa". 

In 2014 Tim McCreight and I created the Toolbox initiative, a non-profit organization that helps jewellers in West Africa mostly by giving donated tools.”

Watch an interview with Matthieu by Anna Lindsay MacDonald for MetalAid (Sep'23) here.
Read an interview with Matthieu on Art Jewelry Forum about his background, career and work in Africa here.