About
Amitai Kav was born on Kibbutz Negba in Israel. He studied painting at the Avni Institute in Tel Aviv, and is a self-taught jeweler. He also studied dance and movement notation for many years. Amitai has had a number of exhibitions devoted entirely to his works, and has participated in numerous national and international shows. He has been the recipient of many prizes. The jewerly is currently showing in the most prestigious galleries for art jewelry in the United States.
Amitai has taught jewelry design at the Taylor School of Art in Philadelphia and Parson's School of Design in New York. He was a member of the faculty of the Department of Jewelry Design at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem for twelve years.
Amitai created the Dove of Peace which became the recognized symbol of the Middle East peace process. The Doves were worn by Reuma Weizmann, wife of the President of the State of Israel, and Queen Nur, wife of King Hussein of Jordan, at the historic ceremonial signing of the peace agreement between the two States. During the ceremonies surrounding the signing, Hillary Clinton and Leah Rabin also wore art jewelry created by Amitai Kav. It is most unusual for the wives of all the major participants in such a momentous event to wear jewelry designed by the same artist. A silver Dove of Peace was presented to each member of the Israeli and Jordanian negotiating teams.
Other exclusive works by Amitai Kav were presented by the late Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin and his wife Leah to a number of dignitaries, including King Carlos of Spain, Mrs. Jihan Sadat, Mrs. John Major, the wife of the Emperor of Japan, and the wife of the Prime Minister of South Korea. A special rendition of the Dove of Peace in gold was given to the queen of Norway.
Amitai Kav's design was chosen by the State of Israel as its logo for the Millennium.
Amitai Kav began to make jewelry as a side occupation. It turned out to be his main interest. His lack of formal training in jewelry design led to the development of an individual and highly original style, not bound by conventional technique, influenced by elements of dance, painting, and the eastern motifs of the region. His jewelry, almost all in 18K gold, is hand worked directly from a detailed drawing which he makes before commencing execution of the piece. His first experiments in jewelry were inspired by the functional but complex parts of precision machinery and by the human anatomy. This style expanded and developed as he incorporated Art Nouveau and baroque elements, and sometimes Chinese, Egyptian or Middle Eastern motifs. Amitai takes as much pride in the technical execution of his jewelry as in its pure aesthetics. The fastenings and clasps, which form an integral functional feature of each piece, are as much a design challenge as the piece itself.