What is luxury to you? — Reflections from the end of Your Pleasure, Our Pain

Join residents Béatrice Sylvie, Nanna Melland, and Bwalya Bwalya Kangwa in a group conversation hosted by PRAKSIS's Nicholas Jones. Recorded at the close of Residency 28, Your Pleasure, Our Pain, the discussion revisits the question that opened the residency: What is luxury to you? What follows is an open, thoughtful exchange on how perspectives have shifted over the course of the residency—touching on luxury as time, intimacy, care, disorientation, and collective reflection. Residency 28 brought together a diverse group of artists, artisans, designers and researchers to explore the ethics of luxury through the loupe of the lapidary. It was developed by Goethe-Institut Norwegen and Institut français de Norvège, LuCAC and Rudolf Kangwa.

Ethics, Regulation & the Gemstone Trade Join Rudolf Kangwa, Zambian lapidary and co-founder of Rudolf's Gems (alongside partner Bwalya Bwalya Kangwa), in conversation with Dr. Tereza Østbø Kuldova, research professor at OsloMet's Work Research Institute. This episode was recorded during Residency 28, Your Pleasure, Our Pain, which brought together voices from around the world to explore questions of luxury and ethics. They discuss: How anti-corruption regulations have evolved since the Cold War The "compliance industrial complex" and its impact on small businesses Why certification schemes often advantage Western corporations over local producers The disconnect between formal procedures and real-world change How regulatory frameworks create new forms of surveillance capitalism Residency 28, Your Pleasure, Our Pain, invited a diverse group of artists, artisans, designers and researchers to collectively explore the implications of the luxury industry through the loupe of the lapidary. It is developed by Goethe-Institut Norwegen and Institut français de Norvège, LuCAC and Rudolf Kangwa. The residents of R28 were: Victoria Duffee Shaun Borstrock Bwalya Bwalya Kangwa Rudolf Kangwa Nanna Melland Melissa Schwarz Erin Sexton Béatrice Sylvie

Join artists Åste Amundsen, Sara Clugage and Tor Lukasik-Foss for a conversation about the expectations and outcomes of parties.

In this podcast episode, artists Lexie Owen, Tor Lukasik-Foss and Matilda Moors discuss parties as punctuation. This episode was recorded during PRAKSIS Residency 27: Party as Form.

Tinsae Tsegahun Mengistu, Rahman Akbar Sayekti and Don Lawrence reflect on the process of designing a toilet at Samong Haven, a centre for culture and learning in Bali. This conversation took place as part of PRAKSIS's 26th residency, "Bricking It", a month spent learning, discussing, designing and building around brick as a sustainable medium. The residency was held in 2024 on-site at Samong Haven in Bali, and organsied with Andy Rahman and Don Lawrence.  This is part of a series of five conversations between participants.  Three of the episodes focus on the design and construction of key structures: a kitchen and grill area, a toilet facility, and a house temple. These discussions delve into both the practicalities of building with brick and the collaborative spirit that guided each project’s development. Complementing these are two audio episodes for which residents respond to the prompt: “What comes to mind when you think about brick?” Through this introduction exercise, they explore their associations with the material—ranging from its texture and history to its symbolic and cultural significance—setting the tone for the communal dialogue that followed.

Architects Huzefah Haroon, Francisco Susmel and artist Elise Hoebeke reflect on the process of collectively designing and building a temple at centre for culture and learning, Samong Haven in Bali. This conversation took place as part of PRAKSIS's 26th residency, "Bricking It", a month spent learning, discussing, designing and building around brick as a sustainable medium. The residency was held in 2024 on-site at Samong Haven in Bali, and organsied with Andy Rahman and Don Lawrence.  This is part of a series of five conversations between participants.  Three of the episodes focus on the design and construction of key structures: a kitchen and grill area, a toilet facility, and a house temple. These discussions delve into both the practicalities of building with brick and the collaborative spirit that guided each project’s development. Complementing these are two audio episodes for which residents respond to the prompt: “What comes to mind when you think about brick?” Through this introduction exercise, they explore their associations with the material—ranging from its texture and history to its symbolic and cultural significance—setting the tone for the communal dialogue that followed.

Architect Jon Haga Grov, curator Ba Taonga Julia Kaunda-Kaseka, artist and designer Breanne Johnson, and designer Ellie Birkhead discuss designing and building a communal kitchen and grill on-site at centre for culture and learning, Samong Haven in Bali. This conversation took place as part of PRAKSIS's 26th residency, "Bricking It", a month spent learning, discussing, designing and building around brick as a sustainable medium. The residency was held in 2024 on-site at Samong Haven in Bali, and organsied with Andy Rahman and Don Lawrence.  This is part of a series of five conversations between participants.  Three of the episodes focus on the design and construction of key structures: a kitchen and grill area, a toilet facility, and a house temple. These discussions delve into both the practicalities of building with brick and the collaborative spirit that guided each project’s development. Complementing these are two audio episodes for which residents respond to the prompt: “What comes to mind when you think about brick?” Through this introduction exercise, they explore their associations with the material—ranging from its texture and history to its symbolic and cultural significance—setting the tone for the communal dialogue that followed.

In speaking with artist and designer Breanne Johnson and architect Don Lawrence, Dr. I Nyoman Gede Maha Putra traces the development of architecture and culture in Bali, outlining the mechanisms and impact of colonization on the island, and offering his perspective on how the island should move forwards.  This conversation took place as part of PRAKSIS's 26th residency, "Bricking It", a month spent learning, discussing, designing and building around brick as a sustainable medium. The questions were developed collectively between the residency participants. The residency was held in 2024 on-site at Samong Haven in Bali, and organsied with Andy Rahman and Don Lawrence. Find out more here: https://www.praksisoslo.org/residencieslist/r26-bricking-it About Dr. I Nyoman Gede Maha Putra Nyoman Gede Maha Putra lives in Bali and lectures in the Architecture Department of Universitas Warmadewa, where he is Senior Researcher at Warmadewa Research Centre. He focuses on architecture and urban design, with particular focus on issues of space formation and identity, and the traditional versus the modern within the history of architecture. His research has probed global tourism’s transformation of traditional settlements in Bali and identifies the need for public policy with a long-term vision to manage such transformations.

Responding to the question “What comes to mind when you think about brick?” architects Francisco Susmel and Huzefah Haroon talk together with artist and designer Breanne Johnson. They explore their associations with the material—ranging from its texture and history to its symbolic and cultural significance. This conversation took place as part of PRAKSIS's 26th residency, "Bricking It", a month spent learning, discussing, designing and building around brick as a sustainable medium. The residency was held in 2024 on-site at Samong Haven in Bali, and organsied with Andy Rahman and Don Lawrence.

Responding to the question “What comes to mind when you think about brick?”, researcher Yohannes Arya Duta, artist Elise Hoebeke, and designer Ellie Birkhead explore their associations with the material—ranging from its texture and history to its symbolic and cultural significance. This conversation took place as part of PRAKSIS's 26th residency, "Bricking It", a month spent learning, discussing, designing and building around brick as a sustainable medium. The residency was held in 2024 on-site at Samong Haven in Bali, and organsied with Andy Rahman and Don Lawrence.