Claudia Betancourt and Nano Pulgar are the artists/designers behind WALKA,

a Contemporary Jewelry Studio founded in 2003.

They live and work off the grid in Patagonia, Chile.

 The Council of Culture and Arts of the Chilean Government declared WALKA in 2014 as the most important contemporary jewelry studio in Chile.

They have been invited as visiting teachers to give lectures and workshops to prestigious universities such as PARSON: The New School of Design (NYC, USA), CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS (London, UK), POLIMODA (Florence, Italy), HDK (Sweden) and Birmingham City University (UK), among others.

In 2008, its educational branch, “WE WALKA Jewelry School” was born, which has become one of the most important jewelry education centers in Latin America, counting among its students, artists and designers from Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Spain and USA. His visiting professors include artists and designers from USA, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Sweden and Japan.

 They have given lectures at seminars such as “New Adventures in Jewelry” Sweden, “Gray Area / Area Gray” Mexico, “TEDxSantiago” Chile, “Art and Fashion” Museum of Contemporary Art Chile and “Design Biennale” Chile, among others.

They have won 4 “UNESCO-Chile Seals of Excellence in Craftmanship” and numerous Public Funds from the Chilean Government for the development, research and promotion of Contemporary Jewelry both in Chile and abroad.

Their works have been exhibited at the Museum of Art and Design MAD in New York, USA; SCHMUCK_Café Clara, Germany; Beijing Art Jewelry Triennial, China; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chile; KORU5 Triennale of Art Jewelry, Finland; Milano Design Week; Design Biennials of Chile and Spain.

Their work has been published in the most important compilations and publications of contemporary jewelry worldwide, including “ÉCLAT: Master of New Jewelery Design”. And they maintain constant presence in important fashion magazines like VOGUE, Harper’s BAZAAR and ELLE.

From 2019 Claudia and Nano run “WALKA Patagonia Conservation”, an art/ecosystem project that focus on nature conservation at Patagonia, Chile.