Englewood's Bowles Awarded $22,000 Fellowship for an Ornamental "Wanderjahr"

APPLETON, WIS. -- For Caroline Bowles of Englewood, Colo., daily inspiration is never more than an arm's length away. Her right wrist is adorned with a simple copper coil bracelet, expertly wound for her nearly two years ago by Napoki, a Maasai woman.

Bowles, a senior at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., met Napoki in 2000 during a five-month long off-campus study program in Tanzania, where the Maasai women are known for the beautiful wrapped coils of copper, aluminum and brass which they wear around their wrists and ankles. Observing Napoki deftly stringing colored beads into exquisite necklaces and earrings sparked a passion in Bowles to learn more about the manufacture of traditional jewelry and the meanings it communicates and represents.

A 1998 graduate of Cherry Creek High School, Bowles soon will embark on a unique and intimate exploration of the craft and context of traditional jewelry in post colonial India and Niger, two countries known for their rich ornamental traditions.

Bowles was recently named one of 60 national recipients of a $22,000 fellowship by the Providence, R.I.-based Thomas J. Watson Foundation. The fellowship supports a "wanderjahr" -- a year to travel and explore the world -- on a topic of the student's choosing.

In August, Bowles, the daughter of Susan Bowles, Englewood, and the late Richard Bowles, will depart for Pune, India, a city of a nearly one million people 75 miles southeast of Bombay, where she will spend six months living with a host family and working as an apprentice with local artisans. Next February, she will leave India for the capital city of Niamey in Niger, where she hopes to study with Issoufou Amadou,well known silversmith whose work is frequently exhibited in France.

"Americans tend to be familiar only with jewelry that has evolved largely from the European tradition of metalsmithing. We're not as acquainted with the exquisite, ancient metallurgical and artistic traditions of non-Western countries," explained Bowles, who is pursuing a bachelor's degree in anthropology with a minor in art at Lawrence. "By working in India and Niger, Išll have the opportunity to learn a wide variety of techniques, including casting, knitting wire, engraving, filigree, stone setting and fusing. Those are all techniques with which I've had little or no experience."

In addition to learning jewelry-making skills, Bowles is equally interested in exploring the impact cross-cultural contacts have had on traditional jewelry in the two countries. She hopes to study how the contact with neighboring ethnic groups has influenced traditional jewelry and how urbanization has changed the place of jewelers in the community.

"As an anthropologist, India and Niger are intriguing destinations to me because they are sites of major cross-cultural contact," said Bowles. "The British and French imperialists brought their own cultures to these countries, including their sense of the aesthetic. I want to see how the jewelry reflects these countries' colonial pasts. If Western influence has been minimal, why did jewelry escape that influence that is so prevalent in other aspects of those countries, such as the architecture and dress?"

During her wanderjahr, Bowles intends to hire tutors to learn the dominant indigenous languages of the area, Marathi in India and Hausa in Niger, which is more widely spoken than French, to help build relationships with people and as a sign of respect for their culture.

"I know this experience will change me and I will grow immensely as a person," said Bowles. "Having already spent time abroad, I understand how immersing yourself in another culture forces you to examine who you are and what you value.

"I know I will come away from my wanderjahr with greater confidence, compassion, assertiveness and an ability to better understand others' point of view. Those skills and qualities will in turn make me a better anthropologist and citizen."

Bowles was chosen for the fellowship from nearly 1,000 nominees representing 50 of the nation's leading liberal arts colleges. Watson Fellows are selected on the basis of the nominee's character, academic record, leadership potential, willingness to delve into another culture and the personal significance of the project proposal.