ABOUT JA.LIZAH
JA.LIZAH is an Amsterdam-based design house specialising in artistic jewellery, leather goods, and couture design. Founded by Dutch-Jamaican artist and designer Jaleesa van Beek in 2021, the JA.LIZAH atelier collaborates with skilled Egyptian and South African artisans, promoting heritage craftsmanship and working with local materials on the African continent.
The JA.LIZAH realm is an orchestra of boundless expressions in wearable art, sound design, performance art, and the Light Script – a living life diary that forms the golden thread of the designer’s journey. This golden thread represents continuously unfolding storylines, reflecting on the metaphysical cages from which the designer is breaking free. These cages are visually transformed into artefacts, keys to unlocking one's unlimited personal power and building protective personal armour and strength through creative freedom of expression.
A core value of the brand is making the impossible possible by connecting different worlds through cutting-edge designs derived from visions and dreams, giving the creations a sense of "other-worldliness." Van Beek’s work in jewellery design has received significant recognition, most notably in Cairo, Egypt, where her wearable artefacts were exhibited at the renowned Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art. She also received an award at the Cairo Design Awards during the 2024 Cairo Design Week.
Van Beek has extensive experience across a range of jewellery-making techniques from various African craftsmanship cultures. As the former Product and Trade Manager for Givenchy and Kenzo (part of the LVMH Group), Van Beek was also a finalist for the TEDX Start-up Awards (2015) and listed in the Top VIVA400 (2017) Awards. She brings her luxury sector experience, creative tenacity, and entrepreneurial prowess to JA.LIZAH.
2024
JA.LIZAH won the Cairo Design Award of at the Grand Ceremony of Cairo Design Week held at the historical Citadel of Saladin, with the ‘Treasury I’ Collection.
She then returned to Amsterdam to launch her collection in the luxury concept store X Bank, also located in a historical bank building in the heart of Amsterdam.
2023
Ja.lizah worked on the ‘Treasury II’ collection in Cape Town, again unknowingly staying in a former bank building.
The first Treasury Trunk Bag was developed and photographed in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza, leading to a solo exhibition at the Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art in Cairo.
The exhibition in November presented the ‘Treasury I’ and ‘II’ collections, the Treasury Trunk Bag, and video art.
2022
On stardate 22.02.2022, JA.LIZAH was brought to
life through an exclusive launch event in the Mutual Building’s penthouse. The event showcased the Treasury I collection, including video art, sound design, the Light Script, and a three-hour live performance by Ja.lizah.
2020-2021
The collection was created in Cape Town, where Ja.lizah began dreaming of creating Golden Artefacts while staying in a historical bank building, the iconic Mutual Building, which housed a large safe where much of Africa’s gold used to be stored.
The designer met a Zimbabwean jeweller, named Tendai Mahlengwe, and they began collaborating in his garage studio, turning it into a dream factory where her dreams were transformed into rough prototypes.