Rita Soto - CHILE
Rita Soto is an Industrial Designer from UTEM and Cultural Manager from the University of Chile. She inherited the trade of traditional jewelry from her father and from indigenous artisans with knowledge of centuries-old natural fiber basket weaving techniques from Cultists from the towns of Chimbarongo (wicker), La Lajuela (wheat straw) and Rari (horsehair).
Rita takes those traditions into the future creating avant-garde pieces of art. In 2012, she formed the LAJOIA jewelry school in Santiago de Chile.
Between the years 2014-2018 and 2022-2024, she held the position of president of JOYABRAVA, Association of Contemporary Chilean Jewelers.
In recent years, she has developed an in-depth work of giving new meaning to the micro-basketry technique, researching, experimenting and generating pieces that stand out for their innovation and sensitivity. She has taught courses on the technique of micro basketry in Chile, Argentina, Spain and England.
Her works has participated in various contests, biennials, museums and international galleries of Contemporary Jewelry in America, Europe and Asia.
She has exhibited in spaces such as the Design Museum in London, England (as a finalist for the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2018), Representative of Chile at the Revelation Salon Biennial, Paris (2019), MAD about Jewelry Fair (MAD Museum, New York 2019), invited to the Cheongju Craft Biennale, Korea (2021), selected to be part of the London Jewelery Cluster (2021).