Hi, I’m Lia Bruce, the body and salt behind SaltwareDesign. My professional path leads me through architecture studies at the Technion in Haifa, a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, and a master’s degree in Industrial Design at Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem. The combination of art, design, and eco living is expressed in my SaltwareDesign. My love affair with salt began as a child, inspired by my grandmother, who sewed salt into little cotton bags to be worn as protective amulets. As an artist I created installations with the raw material with a constant aspiration to give it a solid manifestation.
The groundbreaking technology that allowed her work to form the residual salt into such forms, textures, colors, and shapes is an integral part of her initiative of SaltwareDesign.
In 2015 Professor Daniel Mendler from the Institute of Chemistry at the Hebrew University answered a public call by the Israeli government for a practical solution to handle a vast amount of cooking salt that accumulates as a residue of the Dead Sea mining.
Professor Mendler and his team developed a sustainable technology that turns the salt into a robust, 100% green three dimensional object with no synthetic additives, durable to pressure and humidity, and manufactured in a very low energy consumption process.
As a designer,Bruce sought to merge salt’s scientific and technological challenges with its crucial significance in culture and found this life mission in the unique dead sea salts.
My interest in the mystical nature of salt grew as I collaborated with the Chemistry Institue at Hebrew university, which was looking for a way to reduce the environmental impact of salt mining in the Dead Sea. Combining creative impulse, engineering challenge, and my desire to heal our environment, I sought practical, innovative, and inspiring solutions. SaltwareDesign was born from this quest.
The Hamsa Hand is a palm shaped amulet, found throughout the Middle East and northern Africa, also known as a good luck charm, believed to confer protection upon its possessor and brings good luck, fertility and good health.
When the evil eye is added to the Hamsa ut is believed to protect from bad luck or the evil-eye with the most common being envious glares from those with ill intentions.
The Hamsa originated in the Middle East and is used in jewelry, paintings and tatoos. In fact, although the differences are sometimes subtle, each is created for a different purpose: a charm is worn to attract good luck; an amulet provides protection from danger; and a talisman is used to attract a particular benefit to its owner.
The Hamsa hand symbol was adopted by the Sephardic Jewish community in Spain and North Africa during the middle ages. In the Jewish faith, the hamsa represents the hand of and named it the Hand of Miriam after the virtuous sister of Moses and Aaron.
Hamsa is also the Hebrew word for five (hamesh in Hebrew), the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
While some believe this represents the five fingers on the talisman, others associated it with the number five to represent the five books of the Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
It also symbolises, “Hay”, which represents one of God’s holy names, and further reminds Jews to use their five senses when praising God.
Hamsa Jewelry The Hamsa today is popular as a protective charm in Middle Eastern, Far Eastern and Western cultures, and is incorporated into jewellery, wall hangings, key chains, baby carriages and other jewellery and decorative household elements. The Hamsa appears in two forms: stylized with two symmetrical thumbs and asymmetrical, with a clearly defined thumb and pinkie finger. Either form may be displayed with the fingers pointing up or down. The centre of the hand often contains further symbols, especially that of an eye, however different cultures may fill the hand with images relevant to them. Most Hamsa jewellery designs are made of silver, gold or other metals.
In middle eastern societies it is very common to find men wearing large statement style Hamsa pendants.
In western societies it is mostly common in women’s jewellery design.Hamsa is common in many more designed objects like key chains, wall ornaments and textiles where it is used regardless to sex, colour and religion?
The Hamsa is in the process of transcending its origins of being a talisman that is thought to have protective qualities to become a gesture of hope for peace in the Middle East. Many Jews and Arabs wear and decorate the entrance to the home with the Hamsa to demonstrate the common ground shared by them, the common source from which their religions spring and to symbolise the common goal of peace in the region.
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