We thank and farewell Sonja Bäumel, beloved head of Jewellery—Linking Bodies since 2017, and teacher in the department since 2016.
Central to Sonja’s legacy is her rigorous commitment to the collective. Sonja is known school-wide for modelling her politics of care and reciprocity, and for practicing her belief that her students, like all people, are continuously shaped by and dependent on their surroundings.
As head, Sonja transformed the Rietveld jewellery department into a place that in practice and in name, linked bodies. Building on her belief that jewellery holds a special position in the extended field, she created a living-breathing example of a department as site for embodied education, attitude and jewellery thinking. Over eight years Sonja lovingly co-created a happy, healthy and close-knit department.
We know that Sonja’s presence over the years has been distinguished by her long-term collaborations, much like in her artistic practice. To that end, we’re heartened that Sonja’s departure doesn’t mark the end of the Rietveld relationship. She will continue her work on interdisciplinary projects with a focus on local communities with Sonia Kazovsky in 2026. Rooted in the Jewellery-Linking Bodies department, the project, like Sonja, keeps its eyes on the broader horizon.