About

“As a jeweler I’m interested in the animacy of objects. When my pieces are worn, they’re activated - that is, their ongoing story and felt sense of meaning are brought to life."

Jeweler and educator Sewit Sium has been crafting living history in the form of  jewelry all of her life. Prior to starting her company in 2015 of the same name, she taught Fashion Activism and Design in various NYC High schools. “I used jewelry - the oldest form of decorative arts as an educational tool, as primary document to teach predominantly Black students about their lineage, the world and their place in it. The goal remains that they view their creations as well as their bodies as sites of knowledge transmission. I want them to internalize that their art will outlive them and to see themselves as leaders and agents of change who can transform the world of image making authority".

Today Sewit is committed to her hands-on jewelry practice while collaborating with museums and universities in creating initiatives that serve the repatriation, reclamation and activation of indigenous objects. 

"I understand there are hopes, dreams, aspirations and unrealized goals imbued in the symbols and iconography i draw upon. This is something I don't take lightly.  A large part of my work is standing up to capitalism’s assertion that this visual language, this technology no longer has a place in this world, in global struggle forward. My jewelry is weapon."

Sewit completed her MA at NYU Tisch, where her thesis was entitled Activation: Jewelry and the Body, Sites and Tools for Liberation. 

Sewit's jewelry has been featured in Elle, Vogue, Bazaar, Town & Country, Vanity Fair Magazines. She created various costume design pieces for HBO Insecure as well as feature films such as Coming 2 America. Her jewelry was also featured in the Sothebys "Brilliant and Black" exhibition.