Current Jewellery Exhibitions
This list of current and forthcoming jewellery exhibitions is provided as a service to our members. We have no means of checking the accuracy of the information, and cannot take responsibility for any mistakes. Please check in advance before visiting an exhibition to avoid disappointment.
Please tell us here if there are any other jewellery exhibitions which we should add to this list, or if anything needs correcting. You can see lists of past exhibitions here.
UK
Edinburgh
The Galloway Hoard: Viking-age Treasure
nms.ac.uk/exhibitions-eventsThe Galloway Hoard brings together the richest collection of rare and unique Viking-age objects ever found in Britain or Ireland. It is of international significance and will transform our understanding of this period of Scottish history. Buried at the beginning of the tenth century, the Hoard comprises in excess of 100 gold, silver and other items, some of which are unique. This exhibition will display the key elements of the hoard, place it in a wider historical context and showcase the conservation and research work which is being undertaken to understand the hoard and its secrets.
29/05/2020 - 18/10/2020
National Museum of Scotland
Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF
Admission free
Hove
Misshapes: The Making of Tatty Devine
3/10/2020 - 26/01/2021
Hove Museum & Art Gallery
19 New Church Road, Hove BN3 4AB
Admission free
London
Thomas Becket
britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/thomas-becketMarking the 850th anniversary of this dramatic crime, this major exhibition will present Becket's tumultuous journey from a London merchant's son to Archbishop, and from a revered saint in death to a 'traitor' in the eyes of Henry VIII, over 350 years later. Becket was one of the most powerful figures of his time, serving as royal Chancellor and later as Archbishop of Canterbury. Initially a close friend of King Henry II, the two men became engaged in a bitter dispute that culminated in Becket's shocking murder by knights with close ties to the king. Get up close to the man, the murder and the legend through an incredible array of objects associated with Becket, including medieval stained glass, manuscripts, jewelry and sacred reliquaries. It will feature artefacts from the Museum's collection as well as important loans from other major collections from the UK and around the world.
15/10/2020 - 14/02/2021
The British Museum
Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG
Daily: 10.00-17.30, Fridays: 10.00-20.30
Adults tba
London
Becket 2020. Pilgrim Badge Display
Museum temporarily closed
museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london/whats-on/exhibitions/becket20202020 marks an important dual anniversary for the extraordinary figure of Thomas Becket. It will be 850 years since his dramatic murder on the 29th December 1170 in Canterbury Cathedral, and 800 years since his body was moved on the 7th July 1220 from a tomb in the crypt of the cathedral into a glittering shrine. While St Thomas Becket is an internationally renowned figure, his connections to London are rather less well-known. For over 300 years, Londoners flocked to Becket's shrine in Canterbury often returning with a pewter badge as a keepsake. Hundreds of these pilgrim souvenirs have been recovered from London excavations and mudlarking activity along the Thames and the museum holds the largest collection in the country. The Museum of London will use some of its pilgrim badges, which is the largest collection in the country, to illustrate St Thomas Becket’s extraordinary life and his connections to the capital. Undertake your own mini-pilgrimage through the museum’s Medieval London Gallery as you discover more about Thomas Becket the man and his early life in London, his exile and murder, the impact of his death and rise in miracle cures and finally, Becket’s shrine and the Jubilee of the Martyrdom in 1220.
14/02/2020 - October 2020
Museum of London
150 London Wall, Barbican, London EC2Y 5HN
Open daily 10am - 6pm
Admission FREE
London
Bags: Inside Out
vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/bagsFrom rucksacks to despatch boxes, Birkin bags to Louis Vuitton luggage, Bags: Inside Out will explore the style, function, design and craftsmanship of the ultimate accessory.
scheduled to open in September 2020
Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL
Daily: 10.00 – 17.40, Friday: 10.00 – 22.00
Adults £12
Wrexham
Misshapes: The Making of Tatty Devine
10/07/2020 - 13/09/2020
Tŷ Pawb
Market Street, Wrexham, Wales LL13 8BY
Admission free
EUROPE EX-UK
BELGIUM
Mechelen
Renaissance Children
hofvanbusleyden.be/renaissance-childrenFor the Burgundian and the early Habsburg princes, Mechelen was not only an important political and cultural hub but also an educational centre. Three consecutive generations of Habsburg princes and princesses, including Philip the Fair, Margaret of Austria and Charles V, spent part of their childhood here. This exhibition will gather a unique selection of children’s portraits, which were commissioned for the court at Mechelen, for the very first time, as well as tell the historical, educational and artistic story behind them. Portraits by such prominent painters as the Master of the Mechelen Guild of St. George and Jan Gossart will be exhibited alongside valuable manuscripts that were used to teach children to read and write, as well as treatises on education by Desiderius Erasmus and Juan Luis Vives, sixteenth-century children’s toys and rare jewellery that was said to protect the wearer against illness and death.
23/10/2020 - 31/01/2021
Museum Hof van Busleyden
Sint-Janstraat 2a (enter through the garden), 2800 Mechelen
Thursday to Tuesday, 10.00 - 17.00, Thursday 10.00 - 22.00
Adults €10, concessions €2, 7, free under 13
FRANCE
Paris
Luxes
opening postponed
madparis.fr/francais/musees/musee-des-arts-decoratifsPresented in 2019 at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, this project, designed by Olivier Gabet, is adapted to the Western context at the museum he directs in Paris. The exhibition invites the visitor to discover around 100 pieces of what was and is today the concept of luxury through majestic pieces in precious materials, the creative madness of merchants, the first artistic directors, the splendour of the luxury industries at the time of the great universal exhibitions, haute couture, and the panache of French luxury houses at the start of the 21st century. These works of art, fashion, jewellery or design are brought together to evoke key moments, to shed light or invite reflection on issues in our contemporary society: consumerism and ostentation, the relationship to spirituality and the sacred or even environmental awareness. And whether, in 2020, luxury could try to return to these essentials that anchor humanity in a poetic and creative reality, combining freedom, transmission and know-how?
23/04/2020 - 6/09/2020
Musée des Arts Décoratifs
107 rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris
Tuesday to Sunday, 11.00 - 18.00, Thursday 11.00 - 21.00
Adults €14, concessions €10, free under 26
Paris
Pierres Précieuses
opening postponed
mnhn.fr/en/node/6306In collaboration with Van Cleef & Arpels, this exhibition offers an immersion in several intimately linked but rarely united universes: mineralogy, gemmology and jewellery. Diamond, ruby, emerald, aquamarine, turquoise ... Extracted from the depths of the Earth, coveted and sought after for millennia, gems - precious stones worked by man - have always been considered as instruments of power and objects of seduction but also, since the 18th century, as scientific subjects. Through a contemporary scenography, the exhibition brings together more than 500 minerals, gems and works of art from the collections of the Museum and more than 200 gems and jewellery creations from Maison Van Cleef & Arpels. This unique dialogue between mineral, gem and jewel structures the route and immerses the visitor in the history of the Earth, the processes of mineral formation and the latest scientific advances in geosciences. It also allows you to marvel at the most beautiful creations shaped by human hands from natural diversity.
3/04/2020 - 3/01/2021
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
36 rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 75005 Paris
Wednesday to Monday, 10.00 - 18.00
Adults €12, concessions €9
GERMANY
Halle
Ringe der Macht
Rings of Power
Open again from 6 May 2020
lda-lsa.de/aktuelles/meldung/datum/2019/11/13/ringe_der_machtRings in the form of magic rings can not only have power themselves, they have always been and are important symbols for a wide variety of messages. The rediscovery and decoding of the mysterious, medieval inscription ring of Paussnitz offers the occasion to place these powerful rings in the centre of this new exhibition. Around 250 selected exhibits, from 30 lenders from Germany, Denmark, England, France, Hungary, Switzerland and the Czech Republic in 500 square meters of exhibition space, illustrate the cosmos of powerful rings since the Paleolithic Age. An impressive central installation visualises the ideas and beliefs of the Middle Ages based on the properties of the Paussnitz ring. The exhibition also unites Germany's most famous inscription rings with the famous Coventry Ring, a gold inscription ring from the late 15th century from the British Museum in London. These outstanding pieces illustrate the magic of the rings of the Middle Ages. Arm reliquaries from Halberstadt, Hochelten and Hildesheim invite you to immerse yourself in the world of belief of the ring bearers. The show presents a spectacular panorama of rings of power, from the oldest known finger rings from the Moravian Pavlov (approx. 35,000 to 24,000 before today) via the golden arm rings of the Bronze Age princes of Central Germany and the Torques of the Celts to the ONE RING from Tolkien's novels, who drew from a long tradition. Amulet rings and insignia illuminate spiritual and secular facets of power up to the ideal idea of the ring as a pledge of love. A very special highlight of the exhibition is the approximately 3,500 year old, recently discovered bronze hand from Prêles (Canton of Bern). This oldest bronze sculpture of a human body part in Central Europe is presented for the first time outside Switzerland. Another highlight is the surprisingly large and almost 7 kilogram Celtic ring from Trichtingen (Baden-Württemberg). As well as the legendary finger ring of St. Elisabeth, which she received from her husband as a gift and whose stone is said to have cracked in two at the moment of his death.
15/11/2019 - 1/06/2020
Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte
Richard-Wagner-Straße 9, 06114 Halle (Saale)
Tuesday - Friday: 9.00 – 17.00, Saturday - Sunday: 10.00–18.00
Adults €8, Concessions €6
Munich
Helga Zahn. Schmuck. Unikat und Serie
Museum will re-open on 19 May
pinakothek.de/ausstellungen/helga-zahn-schmuck-unikat-und-serieHelga Zahn was one of the leading jewellery artists in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s, but was born in Germany in 1936. In 1957, she exchanged her home town for the bustling life of London, where she made her start in the "swinging sixties" and the emergence of the "pop art movement". She was one of the mainstays of "studio jewellery", a post-World War II movement that understood jewellery as a novel and independent art form. The exhibition, conceived by the Neue Sammlung, for the first time honours this almost forgotten jewellery artist and shows a large part of her rich oeuvre.
3/03/2020 - 31/05/2020
Pinakothek der Moderne
Barer St. 40, München
Daily: 10:00 - 18:00, Thursday until 20:00
Adults €10, Concessions €7
Pforzheim
A Newly Ordered World. Jewellery from the Napoleonic Era
Muzeum open again from 8 May. Exhibition extended to 14 June
schmuckmuseum.deNapoleon Bonaparte, whose 250th anniversary occurs in 2019, reorganized the European world in many respects. This provides the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim with the opportunity for a special exhibition on the new type of jewellery and fashion that characterized the Napoleonic era. These are Classicism as the "Style of Revolution" and the decorative Empire style that spread throughout western Europe as far as Russia. The values of the Enlightenment demanded an aesthetic of reason. It met the taste of a growing, self-confident and educated bourgeoisie and influenced all areas of culture - from architecture and painting, furniture, clothing and jewellery to literature and music. The visual arts created a spiritual aristocracy, breaking the tradition of an hereditary nobility. Over the course of the reign of Napoleon, the Empire style unfolded its representative splendour. With works by Chaumet, Napoleon's court jeweller, jewellery from his environment will also be on display.
13/07/2019 - 14/06/2020
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim
Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim
Tuesday - Sunday 10.00 - 17.00 p.m.
Adults €6, Concessions €3.50
Pforzheim
Exotic Formosa – Contemporary Jewellery from Taiwan, created by Ruan Weng Mong
Postponed until Autumn 2021
schmuckmuseum.deThe goldsmith and sculptor Ruan Weng Mong is a mediator between different worlds: born in Taiwan with Chinese-Japanese roots, and trained as a goldsmith in Germany, plus serving as President of the Goldsmiths’ Guild in Nuremberg for many years, he is at home on several continents. His artworks elegantly wed his sensibility for materials and his appreciation of (gem)stones to clear-cut shapes that connote both a European and an Asian formal idiom. While working as an instructor and lecturer in Taiwan, he was one of the first to introduce international contemporary jewellery to Taiwan, and contributed towards paving the way for the inspirational, top-level international exchange of ideas that is taking place there nowadays. The exhibition will be showcasing about 140 of his works in the genres of jewellery, sculpture and graphic art, created over a period of more than 40 years. This is the first time that contemporary Taiwanese-Asian jewellery and artistically created objects will be shown in Germany.
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim
Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim
Tuesday - Sunday 10.00 - 17.00 p.m.
Adults €6, Concessions €3.50
Pforzheim
Max Ernst – The Würth Collection
schmuckmuseum.deMax Ernst (1891–1976) ranks among the most inspiring and influential artists of the 20th century. His oeuvre’s charismatic appeal has lasted well beyond his era. Parts of his biographical notes are fictitious, and he always remained ironically detached from his own works and techniques. His pictures feature figurative elements as well as imaginary forms, and his works have been created from mixed media. Max Ernst was a crossover artist and a master of the realm of “in-betweenness”. Like his life, his oeuvre is characterised by disjunctions and thematic changes, both of which combine to express his visionary, sceptical concept of the world. In the Würth Collection, Max Ernst occupies a central artistic position. A unique collection of books and graphics constitutes the core of the Max Ernst section, making this surrealist’s almost unsurpassably diverse, seemingly boundless visual universe experientially accessible, starting from his very first creations all the way through to his fantastic later works. Several of the artist’s sculptures will also be displayed in this exhibition. In addition, the Jewellery Museum will be showcasing selected pieces from its own collection to enter into dialog with Max Ernst’s artworks.
18/07/2020 - 17/01/2021
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim
Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim
Tuesday - Sunday 10.00 - 17.00 p.m.
Adults €6, Concessions €3.50
Pforzheim
Wismar, Hasselt, Itami – Three Countries, Three Cities, Three Schools
schmuckmuseum.deOver the course of the past few years, three innovative training institutions specialising in jewellery design have evolved in these three cities, located in Germany, Belgium and Finland. In this exhibition, the Jewellery Museum will be spotlighting new aspects of international contemporary jewellery – created in places that don’t rank among the focal points of the jewellery scene but for this reason are breeding grounds for the development of refreshingly new approaches to art jewellery.
17/05/2021 - 26/07/2021
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim
Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim
Tuesday - Sunday 10.00 - 17.00 p.m.
Adults €6, Concessions €3.50
GREECE
Athens
A History of Contemporary Czech Jewelry Design
New dates to be announced
lalaounis-jewelrymuseum.grA survey of artistic jewellery making from the Czech Republic with the most prominent artists, from the 1930’s generation up to Generation Z. The exhibition explores traditional crafts and fine arts for the making of new sculptural jewellery, up to the most recent creations by people born between 1995 and 2010 who are true digital natives. From the use of glass to inspiration by abstract exposure to the internet, social networks and mobile systems, the show is curated by an expert on studio jewellery Julie Bergmann.
22/04/2020 – 22/06/2020
Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum
Kallisperi 12 & Karyatidon Str., Acropolis 11742, Athens
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 9.00 – 15.00, Wednesday & Saturday: 9.00 – 21.00
Adults €5, Concessions €4
ITALY
Milan
Fabergè
The exhibition features a selection of unique articles by the famous Fabergé firm from the collection of Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg. Among the main masterpieces of the exhibition are precious Easter eggs created by Carl Fabergé for Russian emperors, as well as diplomatic gifts, jewelry, memorabilia, and the famous “objects of fantasy” that made Fabergé tremendously popular among the Russian and European aristocracy of his time.
November 2021 - February 2022
Palazzo Reale
Piazza del Duomo, 12 - Milano
Tuesday - Sunday, 9.30 - 19.30, Monday 14:30 - 19:30, Thursday, Saturday until 22.30
Adults €14, Concessions €12
SPAIN
Barcelona
Picasso and the artist's jewellery
bcn.cat/museupicasso/en/exhibitionsFor Pablo Picasso, jewellery was the most personal ways of expressing himself. These objects, usually intended for the people closest to him, were coveted as treasures that he refused to reproduce in large quantities or even exhibit. It would be necessary to wait until the late 1960s to see a series for sale. For the artist, these objects were for sure something much more than just ornaments. The jewel has always been endowed with extraordinary expressive potential, sometimes a talisman, for others, a charm. The jewel is impregnated with this magic of intimacy. This exhibition will present a selection of works from one of the most important international collections of artist jewellery. From surrealism to contemporary productions, from André Derain to Niki de Saint-Phalle, to Miquel Barceló, Lucio Fontana and Louise Bourgeois, the collection of jewellery gathered together is an example of diversity and masterpieces.
8/05/2020 - 13/09/2020
Museu Picasso
c/ Montcada, 15-23 - 08003 Barcelona
Tuesday to Sundays, 9am to 7pm, Thursday 9am to 9.30pm
Adults €6.50, concessions €4.50
Madrid
"The Other Treasure": The Cases for the Dauphin's Treasure
museodelprado.esVisitors to the Museum have the chance to appreciate the exceptional group of 101 cases which, together with the 23 on display in the Dauphin’s Treasure gallery, comprise one of the most complete holdings of its kind in the world, with examples from the 16th to the 18th centuries. These cases were designed to protect the valuable and unique objects in the Treasure, for which reason each one has a different shape. They have wooden cores and are lined with different materials. Most of the cases are covered on the outside with fine leather decorated with dry stamping and gilt tooling of primarily heraldic motifs, particularly the emblems of the Grand Dauphin. Other cases are covered in costly fabrics such as velvet.
10/03/2020 - 13/09/2020
Museo Nacional del Prado
Calle Ruiz de Alarcón 23. Madrid. 28014
Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m, Sundays and holidays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Adults €15, concessions €7.50
AMERICAS
USA
Athens, GA
Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures from the Driehaus Collection
Museum temporarily closed
georgiamuseum.org/exhibitA celebration of beauty, this exhibition features more than 60 objects, spanning over 30 years of Tiffany’s prolific career. One of America’s most renowned artists, Louis Comfort Tiffany worked in nearly all the media available to artists and designers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries — glass, ceramic, metalwork, jewellery and painting. Tiffany’s technical brilliance in a wide variety of media enabled him to convey his awe of the natural world through a range of objects, from common household items to one-of-a-kind masterpieces. He earned international acclaim for his artistic output, receiving prestigious awards in exhibitions across Europe and the United States. His work was enthusiastically collected by art museums and private collectors throughout his career, and continues to be highly sought after today. This exhibition, focusing on Tiffany’s magnificent stained-glass windows, floral vases, lamps and accessories, revels in the artistry and craftsmanship of the Tiffany works from Chicago’s distinguished Richard H. Driehaus Collection, highlighting masterworks never before presented in a comprehensive exhibition.
1/02/2020 – 10/05/2020
Georgia Museum of Art
90 Carlton Street, Athens, Georgia 30602
Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat 10am — 5pm, Thurs, 10am — 9pm; Sun, 1 — 5pm
Admittance FREE
Baltimore, MD
Betty Cooke: The Circle and the Line
thewalters.org/exhibitions/betty-cookeBetty Cooke is a legend in the world of modernist jewellery. During her 70-year career, Cooke has remained true to a minimalist style that has won her awards, the devotion of loyal patrons, and representation in museum collections. This exhibition is the first major museum retrospective of the Baltimore artist’s work. It explores the themes, and expressions in Cooke’s jewelry practice, and spans the period from her earliest designs in the 1940s and ’50s to the present. Cooke grew up in Baltimore, attending the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she also taught for 22 years. Her first working location was a studio, showroom, and residence on Tyson Street, a few blocks from the Walters, which she had visited from childhood; the medieval armour collection was a particular favourite. In 1965, Cooke, with her husband and business partner, William O. Steinmetz (d. 2016), moved from Tyson Street to the Village of Cross Keys in Baltimore’s northern suburbs, where they opened The Store Ltd. Over the years her jewellery has been featured in Vogue and received two Diamonds Today awards from DeBeers. In 1996 she was made a Fellow of the American Craft Council. Below the surface of Cooke’s work are deeply personal, witty, and emotional meanings. She is inspired by the natural world, especially animals and birds, as well as kinetic forms, and uses materials as varied as metal tubing, enamel, wood, and gemstones. Cooke’s strong sense of composition underlies all of her work and is based in her conviction that with “a circle and a line, you can make anything.” 'Betty Cooke: The Circle and the Line' comprises approximately 160 objects drawn from public and private lenders and Cooke’s own collection. It approaches Cooke’s jewellery as individual works of art and in relation to the body as sculpture in motion. In addition to her jewellery, the exhibition will include photography, drawings, and design sketches.
26/09/2020 – 3/01/2021
The Walters Art Museum
600 N. Charles St. Baltimore, MD 21201
Wednesday–Sunday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Thursday: 10 a.m.–9 p.m.
Admittance FREE
Boston, MA
Boston Made. Arts and Crafts Jewelry and Metalwork
Museum temporarily closed - Exhibition extended to 3 January 2021
mfa.org/exhibitions/boston-madeBold colour combinations of gemstones and enamels, foliate motifs, and designs inspired by historical styles, often with a certain glitziness—that is what defined the “Boston look” of Arts and Crafts jewellery and metalwork. Beginning as a reaction against the dehumanising effects of industrialisation, the international Arts and Crafts movement spurred a renaissance of handcraftsmanship in Boston at the turn of the 20th century. As part of this movement, the city quickly emerged as one of the most active and influential artistic jewellery-making and metalworking communities in the nation. “Boston Made: Arts and Crafts Jewelry and Metalwork” presents the story of this community over a 30-year period, from its inception at the beginning of the 20th century to the stock market crash of 1929 that signaled its decline. “Boston Made” is the first exhibition to focus exclusively on the Arts and Crafts metalsmiths in Boston and highlights the contributions of newly empowered women artists like Josephine Hartwell Shaw and Elizabeth Copeland, among others. While adhering to the ideas and ideals of the international Arts and Crafts movement, Boston artists developed a signature aesthetic that set their work apart from the broader movement. “Boston Made” brings together more than 75 works—including jewellery, tableware, decorative accessories, and design drawings—that illuminate the passions and philosophies of this interwoven community of jewellery-makers and metalsmiths. Among the notable works on view are a scroll brooch (about 1920) by Frank Gardner Hale, studded with gemstones and embellished with gold scrolls; a jewelled casket (about 1929) by Edward Everett Oakes; and a necklace (1910–18) by Josephine Hartwell Shaw. Arts and Crafts was a philosophy as much as an artistic movement, looking to the pre-industrial past for design and lifestyle guidance. Design was more important than opulence, and materials were selected for their aesthetic properties, rather than for their intrinsic value. These ideas melded well with Boston’s progressive intellectual community of the early 20th century. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated book from MFA Publications (November 2018).
17/11/2018 – 3/01/2021
Museum of Fine Arts
Avenue of the Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115
Saturday – Tuesday, 10:00 am – 4:45 pm; Wednesday - Friday, 10:00am - 9:45 pm
$25 - Adult, $23 Concessions, Free Children 17 and under
Bryn Athyn, PA
Sacred Adornment: Jewelry as Belief in Ancient Egypt
Museum temporarily closed
glencairnmuseum.org/exhibitionsThe ancient Egyptians created stunning jewellery in a wide variety of materials. This exhibition of jewellery in the Museum's collection will explore how it was used by both the living and the dead to adorn, to protect, and to express devotion to the divine.
29/02/2020 – 1/11/2020
Glencairn Museum
1001 Cathedral Road, PO Box 757, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009
Tuesday-Friday with 2:30 pm guided tour or by appointment; Weekends 1:00 – 4:30 pm, by donation, no appointment necessary
Adults $10, Concessions $8
Charlestown, SC
A Return to the Grand Tour: Micromosaic Jewels from the Collection of Elizabeth Locke
Museum temporarily closed. Exhibition extended to 10 January 20121
gibbesmuseum.org/exhibitionsMicromosaics arrived at their height of pictorial perfection from the late 18th to the mid 19th centuries. These exquisitely crafted plaques, which contain up to 1,400 delicately shaded tiles of glass per square inch, were sold to travellers on their Grand Tour through Italy. Made into jewellery, boxes, and paper weights and sold as easily carried mementoes, micromosaics passed out of fashion toward the end of the 19th century and are now a lost art. This exhibition features 92 brilliant examples from the private collection of Elizabeth Locke.
17/01/2020 – 10/01/2021
the Gibbes Museum of Art
135 Meeting St, Charleston, SC 29401
Monday - Saturday: 10am - 5pm, Wednesday: 10am – 8pm, Sunday: 1pm - 5pm
Adults $12, Concessions $10.
Chicago, IL
Adornment: Jewelry of South Asia’s Nomadic Cultures
Museum temporarily closed
artic.edu/exhibitions/9362/adornmentDuring the 19th and early 20th centuries, cattle-herding nomads from tribes as geographically and culturally diverse as the Ersari and Kuchi of Afghanistan, the Balti of Pakistan, and the Rabari and Ahir of India moved seasonally across Central and South Asia in search of fresh pastures. Although they carried few belongings, these travelers developed a material legacy of adornment practices embodied in the textiles and finely crafted jewellery they wore and bartered, practices that continued as they settled into modest villages over time. This focused exhibition, made up of promised works from the collection of Barbara and David Kipper, presents a sampling of these objects, from ornate headdresses to simple stud earrings, lending insight into their cultural legacy.
2/11/2019 – 9/01/2021
Art Institute of Chicago
111 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60603
Tuesday – Sunday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, Thursday: 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Adults $10, Seniors $8, Students $5. Free Children 12 and under
New York, NY
45 Stories in Jewelry. 1947 to Now
Museum temporarily closed
madmuseum.org/exhibition/45-stories-jewelryMAD was an early advocate of jewellery as a form of artistic expression. Its 1956 inaugural exhibition, 'Craftsmanship in a Changing World', gave many Americans their first exposure to metalsmiths who were challenging the norms of conventional jewellery design and creating works rooted in sculptural experimentation. Because of the support of MAD and like-minded institutions, makers, and collectors around the world, the concept of jewellery as an art form took hold and flourished. To date, the Museum has presented more than 150 exhibitions featuring art jewellery and there are more than 950 pieces in the Museum’s permanent collection. This exhibition highlights the Museum of Arts and Design’s contributions to the field’s advancements and contextualizes the bold experimental practices of its most compelling artists within the key historical moments that ultimately broadened the scope and reach of art as a wearable medium.
13/02/2020 - 24/01/2021
Museum of Arts and Design
2 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 11001
Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun: 10 am–6 pm; Thu: 10 am–9 pm
$18 for adults; $14 for seniors; $12 for students
Tacoma, WA
Take 9/Reflections on Glass Jewelry
museumofglass.org/take-9Glass has long played a role in personal adornment because of its decorative qualities. But the nine internationally acclaimed artists featured in this exhibition—Nirit Dekel (Israel), Don Friedlich (USA), Teri Greeves (Kiowa)(USA), Mieke Groot (Netherlands), Timothy Horn (Australia, working in USA), Paolo Marcolongo (Italy), Patricia Niemann (German, working in Scotland), Bernhard Schobinger (Switzerland), and Joyce Scott (USA)—have chosen instead to focus on the symbolic and metaphoric qualities of glass to make strong social, political, and cultural statements. Glass embodies the paradoxical ability to be transparent and opaque, fragile and strong, alluring and hazardous—traits that are often associated with the human condition. The artists represented here work with glass as their primary or recurring material; each, however, takes a very different approach to the medium. They use a variety of masterful techniques to present unique perspectives that are informed by their diverse cultural and geographic backgrounds. While some works are designed for the human body, others serve as oversized metaphors that challenge accepted norms for adornment. The resulting objects are compelling and of enduring interest.
opening April 2021
Museum of Glass
1801 Dock Street, Tacoma, WA 98402
Wednesday - Saturday: 10am–5pm, Sunday: 12–5pm
Adults: $17, Concessions $5-15
Washington, DC
Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa
postponed
africa.si.edu/exhibitionsGold from West Africa was the engine that drove the movement of things, people, and ideas across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East in an interconnected medieval world. As the incredible works in this exhibition show, it is not possible to understand the emergence of the early modern world without this West African story. Caravans of Gold calls on what archaeologists have termed “the archaeological imagination”—the act of recapturing the past through surviving traces—to present a critical rethinking of the medieval period. Here, rare and precious archaeological fragments are seen side by side, bringing new understanding to complete works of art from the medieval period. Medieval Africa begins with the spread of Islam in the 8th century BC and recedes with the arrival of Europeans along the continent’s Atlantic Coast at the end of the 15th century. During this era, the Sahara Desert was the centre of a global network of exchange. As networks spread, so too did cultural practices, fostering the broad circulation of distinctive Saharan aesthetic and intellectual traditions connected to Islam. The reach of trans-Saharan exchange is revealed in the fragments excavated from archaeological sites, now uninhabited, that were once vibrant communities.
11/04/2020 - 29/11/2020
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
950 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20560
Daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Admission is free.