The fact that the successful stories are born even in the time of a pandemic is the story of Alexandra, the woman who recently decided to open her own workshop in the Old Bazaar in Skopje where she makes and sells filigree.
It’s a great pleasure for us to introduce you to Alexandra, a great lover of what the endless history of the bazaar offers, the narrow streets, the shops and the way the Old Bazaar lives.
As a student, Alexandra decided to start with her education for filigree. She says that this craft has always fascinated her.
In her small shop / workshop, there is a small desk with very small tools from which a piece of jewelry is born. The opening of the workshop was in December 2020, so we can say that this story started to develop very well during the pandemic.
She learns about the craft from the trainings, but she says that the major contribution for upgrading her knowledge and technique has one jeweler, whose workshop is also located in the Old Bazaar. According to her, the transfer of the knowledge and the craft from the elderly to the young is an important moment for maintaining the tradition.
Her desire for filigree has existed for a long time. Alexandra says that as a child she was thrilled walking down the streets of the bazaar, not even imagining that one day the story about MORPHO (name of her workshop for filigree) will evolve here.
For her, the beauty of the bazaar is in the narrow shops, the small workshops, the antique shops through the intertwined streets that cover an area of 6m2, 8m2, 10m2, different from the today’s trend to buy branded products from huge stores in the closed malls.
She describes the work as quite creative, which requires devotion. She loves the moment of the game between the fire and the silver wires. As an architecture student, she says that the making of the jewelry, the shape, the design and figuring out how to connect all the pieces as a whole it’s like a little architecture for her.
Alexandra makes filigrees because of their authenticity, their uniqueness, their delicacy, and the ability to connect us with the long history and tradition nurtured by the elders, because of the sense of identity that arouses in the people.
During her work, Alexandra says that she wants to break the stereotype that the filigree is jewelry for older women, by making more modern designs, designs that are close to the young people.
She adds that she gets support from all sides. Young people recognize her designs, and her story encourages many young girls to wear unique filigree pieces and even participate in the design of their own piece.
Silver is often supplemented with other metals such as brass, copper, gold and semi-precious stones that give the filigree a whole new dimension.
The Old Bazaar in Skopje is very famous for the numerous craftsmen who have dedicated their lives in their small workshops. Foreign tourists put the bazaar first when visiting Skopje, because as the saying goes, this is the heart of the city.
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