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
Aberdeen
The Galloway Hoard: Viking-age Treasure
aberdeencity.gov.uk/AAGM
The 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.
30/07/2022 - 23/10/2022
National Museum of Scotland
Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF
Open daily, 10.00 - 16:30
Admission free
Belfast
Elements
Extended to 4 December 2022.
nmni.com/whats-on/elements-exhibitionFrom Actinium to Zirconium, it’s time to get switched on to science with a journey along the periodic table! Get set for an odyssey that will take you from the rocks beneath your feet to the most distant and ancient reaches of the Universe. Everything from microscopic viruses to vast galaxies – and you too – is made from elements. In this spectacular and unique exhibition, the only one of its kind in Europe, you can find out what the elements look like, where they were made, how they occur naturally, how we use them, and why they can be dangerous!
3/07/2014 - 4/12/2022
Ulster Museum
Botanic Gardens, Belfast BT9 5AB
Tuesday-Sunday 10:00 – 17:00
Bristol
Netsuke: Miniature Masterpieces from Japan
bristolmuseums.org.uk
For the first time, 75 netsuke from Bristol’s collection will go on display in the Eastern Art Gallery.
These finely carved miniature sculptures were Japan’s solution to a lack of pockets in men’s kimono and other clothing.
Each one is unique and they depict a huge range of subjects from Japanese popular culture – animals, mythical creatures and people as well legendary gods and heroes. Marvel at the breathtaking carving skills and the huge range of stories they tell.
During the Edo Period (1603-1868), men would hang small personal items on woven silk cords and tuck them into their sashes at the waist. Netsuke acted as toggles to stop the suspended objects from slipping.
When western clothing with pockets became increasingly fashionable in the Meiji Period (1868-1912), there was a declining demand for them. Carvers turned their skills toward intricate ornamental carvings called okimono. As purely decorative items, okimono usually have more delicate parts and are slightly larger than netsuke.
Both netsuke and okimono offer a fascinating glimpse into popular Japanese culture.
18/05/2021 - 5/06/2022
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Queens Rd, Bristol BS8 1RL
Tuesday-Sunday 10:00 – 17:00
Admission FREE
Cambridge
Gold of the Great Steppe
Ending soon
fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/visit-us/exhibitions/gold-of-the-great-steppe The Saka culture of Central Asia, flourishing 2,500 years ago, is largely unknown outside Kazakhstan. This exhibition will present artefacts from the extraordinary burial mounds of the Saka people of East Kazakhstan: Berel, Shilikty and Eleke Sazy.
Recent excavations and analyses led by archaeologists from Kazakhstan have helped us understand much better how the Saka lived and travelled, the things they made and what they believed in. They have revealed a distinctive, advanced society, which is still being uncovered as modern archaeological methods enable scholars and scientists to find and analyse not only burial mounds but also the remnants of settlements.
The Saka occupied a landscape of seemingly endless steppe to the west, bounded by mountains to the east and south. Known as fierce warriors, they were also skilled craftspeople, producing intricate gold work. Their artistic language indicates their deep respect for the animals around them – both real and imagined. They dominated their landscapes with huge burial mounds of ambitious construction, burying elite members of their society with their horses.
28/09/2021 - 30/01/2022
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RB
Tuesday-Sunday 10:00 – 17:00
General admission free. Charges for special exhibitions
Kirkcudbright
The Galloway Hoard: Viking-age Treasure
kirkcudbrightgalleries.org.uk/event/the-galloway-hoard-at-kirkcudbright-galleries
The Galloway Hoard was discovered by a metal-detectorist in 2014 on what is now Church of Scotland land at Balmaghie in Kirkcudbrightshire. The Hoard was allocated to National Museums Scotland in 2017 and a successful fundraising campaign supported by the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Artfund saved the Hoard for the nation. The Hoard contains 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.
9/10/2021 - 10/07/2022
Kirkcudbright Galleries
St. Mary Street, Kirkcudbright, DG6 4AA
Monday – Saturday, 10am – 5pm and Sunday 12noon -4pm.
Admission free
London
Fabergé in London: Romance to Revolution
vam.ac.uk
This is the first major exhibition devoted to the international prominence of the legendary Russian goldsmith and the importance of his little-known London branch. With a focus on Fabergé’s Edwardian high society clientele, it will shine a light on his triumphs in Britain as well as a global fascination with the joyful opulence of his creations. Showcasing over 200 objects across three main sections, the exhibition will tell the story of Carl Fabergé, the man, and his internationally recognised firm that symbolised Russian craftsmanship and elegance. Unknown to many, it will explore the Anglo-Russian nature of his enterprise with his only branch outside of Russia opening in London in 1903.
20/11/2021 - 8/05/2022
Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL
Daily: 10.00 – 17.40, Friday: 10.00 – 22.00
Adults £18
Thetford
The Thetford Treasure
Extended to 30 April 2022
museums.norfolk.gov.uk/ancient-house/whats-on/ This display shows 11 items of the Thetford Treasure found at Gallows Hill, Thetford in 1979.
The Thetford Treasure was found by metal detectorists Arthur and Greta Brooks in 1979 and consists of 44 pieces of jewellery, 33 silver spoons and a shale jewellery box. The treasure was buried in around 390 AD when opposition to religious cults was rife. The treasure was not declared straight away so the opportunity to study the site where it was found was sadly lost. This will be the first-time items from the hoard have been on display in the town’s museum since 2008.
This special exhibition will include items such as the gold belt-buckle, a gold chain necklace, gold bracelets, gold finger rings, a pendant, a silver strainer and inscribed silver spoons. They represent exquisite workmanship both in terms of their manufacture and their decoration; many pieces detail inscriptions and depictions connected to Roman mythology. The imagery featured on some of the objects connect to Roman deities including Faunus, Bacchus and Diana.
Other objects in the exhibition highlight the importance of recording archaeological discoveries in helping us understand our past, using the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The finds on display include a large assemblage of Roman pewter and glass from a Roman temple site in Hockwold-cum-Wilton.
22/07/2021 - 30/04/2022
Ancient House Museum of Thetford Life
White Hart Street, Thetford, IP24 1AA
Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 4.30pm
Adults £5.10, Concession £4.86, Child (age 4-18) £4.70. Advance booking recommended as numbers are limited.
EUROPE EX-UK
DENMARK
Copenhagen
En Dronnings Smykkeskrin – 50 år på tronen fortalt i smykker
A Queen’s Jewellery Box: 50 Years on the Throne Told in Jewellery
kongernessamling.dk
This special exhibition will mark the 50th anniversary in 2022 of Her Majesty the Queen's reign.
The Queen has a very large jewellery collection, which she uses very consciously and actively - and with care and consideration. For Her Majesty, jewels are not just jewellery. They are symbols and bearers of memories, friendships, and continuity, of life as Denmark's monarch through 50 years and 50 years of Danish history.
For the first time ever, the exhibition presents over 200 well-known and lesser-known pieces of jewellery from The Queen's collection. Each jewel in the exhibition carries a story and refers to one or more private or official events during The Queen's 50-year reign.
As a very special experience in the exhibition, The Queen herself has agreed to provide a voice for the audio guide that visitors are given. With the audio guide in hand, visitors can hear The Queen herself talk about selected jewellery and events throughout the exhibition.
14/01/2022 - 23/10/2022
Amalienborg Palace
Christian VIII's Palæ, 1257 Copenhagen K
The Amalienborg Museum is currently closed as we are preparing this special exhibition
Adults: 95 dkk, Students: 65 dkk
Hasle
Sofia Björkman - Landscapes
Ending soon
groenbechsgaard.dk/en/exhibitions/sofia-bjoekman-landscapesSofia Björkman is a jewellery artist from Stockholm in Sweden. After graduation from Konstfack 1998 she started PLATINA, a gallery and studio for art jewellery. Since then, she has been working as an artist, gallery owner and curator combined with all kinds of activities and projects within the jewellery field. In the profession she meets a lot of people that comment on what they see. This influences her and affects her artistic practice, often the comments form the basis for future work. This is a way for her to understand works and to express the experience of being an artist and a curator at the same time. She says that wearable jewellery can easily be moved from one context to another and can therefore cause other reactions than exhibited in art environments. Mobility and flexibility make jewellery art unique as an artform and broadens the potential for a piece to have impact and elicit various reactions. At Bornholms Center for Kunsthåndværk & Design, Grønbechs Gård, she will show jewellery and three-dimensional objects that move between body-related works, installations, drawings and paintings. The work is based on comments on jewellery, crafts and artworks, landscapes, and human behaviour in nature. The human body can be seen as a landscape for jewellery, the exhibition space as the environment for the exhibited objects and together they all form part of a larger landscape.
11/09/2021 - 30/01/2022
Bornholms Center for Kunsthåndværk
Grønbechs Gård 4, 3790 Hasle
Monday to Sunday 10:00 - 17:00
Vejle
Strength and gold - Vikings in the east
vejlemuseerne.dk
The enormous gold treasure hoard from Vindelev, consisting of almost 1 kg of gold, including some huge medallions the size of saucers, which was excavated in September 2021, plays the main role in this exhibition. It displays the magnificent find for the first time and tells the story of the prelude to the Viking Age and Harald Bluetooth's alliances in present-day Poland. "The stories of the Vikings' pillaging raids in England have been told countless times. We want to tell the story in depth and explore the fascinating cultural encounters and alliances that created the Danish Viking kings' power base" says Charlotta Lindblom, Archaeologist and Curator at the Vejle Museums, and continues: "This exhibition shows the very latest knowledge about the run-up to the Viking Age as well as Harald Bluetooth's eastern connections. These connections are shown in the exhibition's many fantastic finds from Denmark and Poland."
The exhibition is a collaboration with Moesgaard Museum, which will have an exhibition about other aspects of the Vikings' travels to the east.
17/02/2022 - 23/10/2022
Vejle Art Museum
Flegborg 16-18, Vejle
Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 - 17:00
Admission free
FINLAND
Helsinki
Man, Machine and Jewellery. Björn Weckström
Ending soon
didrichsenmuseum.fi/bjornweckstrom?lang=enBjörn Weckström's 85th anniversary exhibition presents the artist´s two contrasting worlds – impressive sculptures in bronze with mythological themes, artifacts in stone and glass, as well as jewellery in gold and silver produced for Lapponia Jewelry. The sculptures are from the artist´s collection and the jewellery section of the exhibition is prepared in collaboration with Kalevala Koru, owner of Lapponia Jewelry.
11/09/2021 - 30/01/2022
Didrichsen Art Museum
Kuusilahdenkuja 1, 00340, Helsinki
Tuesday - Sunday, 10:00 - 18:00
Lappeenranta
KORU7
museot.fi/exhibitions/index
The exhibition is a topical look at the many questions of our time, examined through the lens of identity, the body and the world around us. The pieces displayed in the exhibition have been selected to reflect the different premises and modes of expression of art jewellery. The variety of forms and the fine detail reveal the skill of handcrafted expression. The materials of the pieces and the experiences they create encourage visitors to look at jewellery in new ways.
30/10/2021 - 13/03/2022
South Karelia Museum
Kristiinankatu 15, 53900 Lappeenranta
Tuesday - Sunday, 11:00-17:00
FRANCE
Le Mont-Saint-Michel
Merveilles d’or et d’argent, trésors cachés et savoir-faire de la Manche
Ending soon
normandie-tourisme.fr/agenda/exposition Organised by the Department, in partnership with the Centre des monuments nationaux (CMN), this exhibition is the result of more than two years of work. More than 200 pieces on the theme of metal, from 78 lenders, spanning the Middle Ages to the 20th century, will be exhibited in the Salle des Hôtes of the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel. During their visit, the public will be able to discover many previously unseen pieces, from both public and private collections, as well as the way in which the various craftsmen worked: art founders, pewter potters, tinsmiths and master goldsmiths. A contemporary showroom, installed in the chapel adjacent to the Salle des Hôtes, will complete the scenographic tour by highlighting living heritage companies and contemporary creators from our region. The history of metal is still alive!
A catalogue to discover the exhibition is available for purchase at the Fnac in Saint-Lô, on the Orep éditions website and at the exhibition venue.
18/09/2021 - 30/01/2022
Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel
50170 Le Mont-Saint-Michel
May 19th - August 31st: 9.00-19.00, September 1st - April 30th: 9.30-18.00
Adults €11, free under 18
Paris
Cartier et les arts de l’Islam. Aux sources de la modernité
Ending soon
madparis.fr/en/about-us/exhibitions/Focusing on the exceptional creations of Louis Cartier, grandson of the jewellery house’s founder and a passionate student and collector of Arabesque art and artifacts, the exhibition will retrace Louis Cartier’s popularisation of this style through his creations for Cartier, beginning with his involvement in the family business in 1898. Finding inspiration in his travels to the Middle East and India along with his younger brother, Jacques Cartier, Louis Cartier began to favour the geometric and naturalistic patterns of Islamic Art as seen in many sketches, prototypes and jewels which became synonymous with the stylistic language of the house of Cartier. Louis Cartier himself curated exhibitions on Islamic Art and Jewellery at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in 1903 and 1912.
21/10/2021 - 20/02/2022
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
Designing Jewels
Ending soon
lecolevancleefarpels.com/fr/en/exhibition Little studied and published, even more rarely exhibited, jewellery drawings remain relatively unknown to the general public. Nevertheless, this drawing plays an essential role, serving as the reference point for all those involved in the creation of the jewellery item. Since the Renaissance, the drawing constitutes the first, and indeed, one might say the primordial step, in that it gives life to the idea, and allows the idea to be realised.
It is to this long neglected object — a technical tool serving the artisans involved in the fabrication of the jewellery but also a sensitive work — which 'L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts' wishes to pay tribute, by shining a light on its history, technique, authors and status. L’ÉCOLE is proud to organize the first exhibition devoted to this theme, explored from a wide variety of perspectives!
The selected works broadly cover the 19th century, beginning in the 1760s and ending with the First World War, and were executed by numerous artists and designers, either famous or anonymous, illustrating a great diversity of techniques and uses. All come from the Van Cleef & Arpels Jewelry Culture Fund, set up for research, presentation and educational purposes.
14/10/2021 - 14/02/2022
L'École des Arts Joailliers
31 rue Danielle Casanova, 75001 Paris
Tuesday – Saturday, 12:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Admission free, advance reservation required
GERMANY
Berlin
Die Krone von Kertsch. Schätze aus Europas Frühzeit
The Crown of Kerch. Treasures from the Dawn of European History
smb.museum/en/exhibitions
Gold jewellery from the migration period found near the Black Sea, silver brooches and magnificent belts from early medieval graves in France, Italy, Spain, and Germany: selections from the collection of Johannes von Diergardt will be on view again in Berlin for the first time in 80 years, re-turning to the city where they were displayed until 1934. Following the death of the collector and art lover, these works moved to the Römisch-Germanisches Museum in Cologne. Construction work in the Cologne museum now offers a prime opportunity to present the treasures to the Berlin public again for the first time in many years. An exhibition by the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, in collaboration with the Römisch-Germanisches Museum der Stadt Köln
19/06/2020 - 25/09/2022
Neues Museum
James-Simon-Galerie, Bodestraße, 10178 Berlin
Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m
Adults €12, Concessions €6
Hanau
Ebbe Weiss-Weingart. Avantgardistin und Altmeisterin des Schmucks
goldschmiedehaus.com/en/ebbe-weiss-weingart-avantgardistin-und-altmeisterin-des-schmucks
From the manifold collection of the German Goldsmith's House, jewellery of well-known artists - Bruno Martinazzi, Hermann Jünger, Ebbe Weiss-Weingart - as well as relating to exceptional materials and techniques will be presented in the context of the history of jewellery.
With her incisive works, Ebbe Weiss Weingart (1923-2019) rendered a significant contribution to the revival of artistic jewellery post-1945. Experiments with unusual techniques, materials and design media were at the forefront for this master goldsmith. Closer illumination of this abundant spectrum is provided by selected jewellery items from a period of creativity that lasted more than 70 years.
10/10/2021 - 15/05/2022
Deutsche Goldschmiedehaus Hanau
Altstädter Markt 6, 63450 Hanau
Hanau
From the jauntiness of absence
Ending soon
goldschmiedehaus.com/en/jauntiness-absence From the manifold collection of the German Goldsmith's House, jewellery of well-known artists - Bruno Martinazzi, Hermann Jünger, Ebbe Weiss-Weingart - as well as relating to exceptional materials and techniques will be presented in the context of the history of jewellery.
The four jewellery artists Constanza Salinas, Felicia Mülbaier, Luisa Werner and Natascha Frechen met during their studies in Idar-Oberstein and last year developed the concept of their exhibition as part of “Parcours Bijoux 2020”. The focus is on working with the stone, the artistic process, supplemented by notes and drawings.
“(…) In a long, intensive process, the successive removal of material reveals a new shape that seemed to be hidden inside the stone. Through the interaction of material, body and mind, a new work is formed in our hands. Each piece tells its own story, that of the creation process it went through. Objects, drawings, sketches ... are just as important to us as the finished jewellery itself. Most of the time, they disappear unseen in the drawer, but they play an important role in the creative process. Through them we explore material, form, content and background, they teach us to recognize the essence of our work. (...) ".
28/10/2021 - 30/01/2022
Deutsche Goldschmiedehaus Hanau
Altstädter Markt 6, 63450 Hanau
Hanau
Bruno Martinazzi. Ein Künstlerphilosoph im Schmuck
Ending soon
goldschmiedehaus.com/en/bruno-martinazzi-ein-kunstlerphilosoph-im-schmuck From the manifold collection of the German Goldsmith's House, jewellery of well-known artists - Bruno Martinazzi, Hermann Jünger, Ebbe Weiss-Weingart - as well as relating to exceptional materials and techniques will be presented in the context of the history of jewellery.
More than 100 objects, including previously unknown rarities from the archive of Bruno Martinazzi (1923–2018) in Turin, cast light on the central guiding concepts of this goldsmith and sculptor. They reflect an aesthetic that can be situated between modernity and classicism. Martinazzi’s works are world-famous and open to rediscovery time and time again.
18/11/2021 - 13/02/2022
Deutsche Goldschmiedehaus Hanau
Altstädter Markt 6, 63450 Hanau
Leipzig
Jewellery & Image. The GRASSI Adorns You
grassimak.de/en/museum
Almost unnoticed, a collection of contemporary jewellery has grown in the museum over the last decades, which is now coming into the public eye. The objects attest to the gradual emancipation of jewellery design as an autonomous form of artistic expression. But what are brooches, rings, and necklaces without one to wear them? Jewellery can only be realised on the body, as a representation of the self and/or as a symbol of perception to the outside world. Thus, it is only logical to understand people and jewellery as a unity, and to photograph them with ‘their’ piece of jewellery. Personalities who are connected to the museum in various ways are ‘adorned’ and brought into the frame by aspiring and established photographers. In the exhibition, the pieces of jewellery correspond with the photographic works, making possible a deeper and more mutual perception.
5/5/2022 - 25/09/2022
GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts
Johannisplatz 5–11, 04103 Leipzig
Tuesday – Sunday 10 am – 6 pm
Adults €8, Concessions €5.50
Pforzheim
Delicate Like Iron - Jewellery from a private collection
Ending soon
schmuckmuseum.de/en/exhibitions/currentIn the period from the late 18th to the mid-19th century, what is called iron jewellery was very popular: elaborate necklaces, bracelets, pendant earrings, brooches and even rings, filigreed like lace – yet cast from iron. The pieces’ unobtrusive material, clear-cut formal idiom and somewhat inaccessible character reflect the values embraced by society back then: constancy, modesty and reticence. In line with the taste of the time, they feature elements from Gothic architecture or floral ornamental motifs from classical antiquity, such as palmettes, acanthus and wine leaves. In addition to Berlin – from which the French term »fer de Berlin« derives – the city of Gleiwitz (now Gliwice in Poland) was also home to an important foundry. At first, iron jewellery was mainly used as mourning jewellery, and many women were wearing what are called »Louise pendants« or »Louise brooches« after the early death of the well-liked Prussian Queen Louise in 1810. During the time of the Napoleonic Wars of Liberation, iron jewellery was being worn increasingly as a political statement or symbol of patriotism, and was donned »to save the fatherland« following an appeal by Princess Marianne of Prussia in 1813 to donate gold jewellery in exchange for pieces made of iron. What enabled the production of delicate iron jewellery in the first place was the state of technological development back then as a necessary prerequisite for transforming the technically demanding designs into tangible pieces. Some of the designs were created by the state architect of Prussia, Karl Friedrich Schinkel. During World War I, iron jewellery became fashionable again in the shape of rings, brooches or medallions with the inscription »Gold gab ich für Eisen« (I gave gold for iron), for example. The exhibits are from the Klaus-Peter and Judith Thomé Collection.
16/07/2021 - 6/02/2022
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim
Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim
Tuesday - Sunday 10.00 - 17.00 p.m.
Adults €6, Concessions €3.50
Pforzheim
Exotic Formosa – Jewellery and Objects, created by Ruan Weng Mong
schmuckmuseum.de/en/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions
The goldsmith and sculptor Ruan Weng Mong is a mediator between different worlds: born in Taiwan 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 100 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.
5/03/2022 - 6/06/2022
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim
Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim
Tuesday - Sunday 10.00 - 17.00 p.m.
Adults €6, Concessions €3.50
Pforzheim
Jewellery – Language. Exhibitions to mark the anniversary of Johannes Reuchlin’s death
schmuckmuseum.de/en/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions
When we think of language, jewellery is not the first thing that comes to mind. However, jewellery is a precious manifestation of many and varied systems of signs and symbols – as precious as the message itself. Jewellery serves as a means of communication, and hence is quite literally a "carrier of meaning". The Jewellery Museum has been inspired by this aspect to mark the 500th anniversary of Johannes Reuchlin’s death with an exhibition of calligraphy to highlight the humanist’s appreciation of languages and, concomitantly, of tolerance and peaceful understanding. In addition, video installations in several rooms will be showing texts from various eras of human history, and the theme of "language in jewellery" will be running like a leitmotif throughout the permanent exhibition. After all, jewellery has been playing an important role across different epochs and cultures as one of the many ways to express ourselves. Not least due to its high symbolic value, it is also a precious gift, for example for the birth of a child or on a wedding day. Quite often, jewellery accompanies its owner to their grave and thus even after death.
25/06/2022 - 6/11/2022
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim
Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim
Tuesday - Sunday 10.00 - 17.00 p.m.
Adults €10, Concessions €8.50
Pforzheim
Pforzheim revisited – Creating contemporary jewellery using manufactory-style techniques
schmuckmuseum.de/en/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions
Embossing, pressing and guilloché engraving are techniques employed in manufactory-style jewellery production. Within the context of the »Pforzheim Revisited« semester project, initiated in 2010, they are experiencing a new lease of life: students of the Jewellery and Everyday Objects Design course at Pforzheim University use these techniques to create contemporary jewellery. The project has been made possible by a collaboration with the German Museum of Technology in Berlin and the Technical Museum of Pforzheim’s Jewellery and Watchmaking Industries, as well as thanks to the support from the C. Hafner company. The exhibition will be spotlighting the works created by the participants of the scholarship programme of the past twelve years.
10/12/2022 - 16/04/2023
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim
Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim
Tuesday - Sunday 10.00 - 17.00 p.m.
Free with general admission (€ 4.50, concessions € 2.50)
Pforzheim
Margit Jäschke – Kairos
schmuckmuseum.de/en/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions
The artist Margit Jäschke describes herself as a wanderer between art worlds. Transcending the boundaries of the common genres, such as installation, painting, sculpture and art jewellery, she has created an oeuvre that is in a league of its own. Purposefully blurring the distinction between wearable pieces of jewellery and autonomous works of art, she emphasizes details that evoke different associations in different viewers. The exhibition will be showcasing the multifaceted, multiple prize-winning oeuvre created by Margit Jäschke over the course of the past 30 years, and will be accompanied by a catalogue published by Arnoldsche Art publishers.
10/12/2022 - 16/04/2023
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim
Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim
Tuesday - Sunday 10.00 - 17.00 p.m.
Adults €6, Concessions €3.50
Pforzheim
The Phenomenon of Jewellery – the Ethnographic Collection at the Jewellery Museum
museumspass.com/en/exhibition/phenomenon
The Pforzheim-based couple Eva and Peter Herion, who acquired a wide variety of adornments on their travels between 1970 and 2006, were fascinated by jewellery in all its diversity. Their primarily ethnographic collection was originally given to the Jewellery Museum as a permanent loan, and has meanwhile passed into the museum’s ownership. When the remodelled museum opened in 2006, parts of the Herion collection were set up with a special focus on Africa and Asia. Conceived as a semi-permanent exhibition back then, it is now being redesigned on the basis of a fundamentally new approach, based on their cultural and historical context as much as the artistic aspirations involved. They also need to be regarded within the framework of global jewellery history. Objects from all of the museum’s collections, whether from the historical, the modern or the ethnographic collection, will therefore be exhibited in a manner that allows them to enter into dialogue with each other. This will give visitors an opportunity to immerse themselves in a wide variety of jewellery, allowing them to discover diverse new perspectives or even come up with their own.
5/12/2021 - 31/12/2025
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim
Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim
Tuesday - Sunday 10.00 - 17.00 p.m.
Free with general admission (€ 4.50, concessions € 2.50)
GREECE
Athens
Form Follows Function 200 + 200 Decorative and Applied Arts 1621 – 2021
lalaounis-jewelrymuseum.gr
The Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire (1821-1829), was a cataclysmic event which, however, gave birth to a new nation-state: Modern Hellas, simply known as ‘Greece’ at the present time. It was an all-out war fought both on land and at sea, a valiant struggle in the name of freedom, justice and, as a corollary, modernity. As such, it harnessed the resources of a deep-rooted tradition of liberal thinking and cultural expression.
The exhibition does not merely divulge the story of the ‘Greek Revolution,’ but illuminates the material culture that comprised the communities which eventually rose against the mighty Ottomans. Undoubtedly, rural, and urban Greeks of the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, employed the material culture of their despots. At the same time, they also turned their gaze westwards, as they were fascinated by the arts and styles that they discovered in ‘Europe’. Following the Renaissance, the Baroque and the Rococo movements, arts were influenced by their style, travelled to Greece to apply to the local needs and tastes. Thus, the exhibition reveals the story of the material culture spanning from 200 years prior to the Greek liberation until its modern-day aftermath.
Functions of attire and jewellery in men and women from the Greek mainland occupy an important component of Greek Traditional Crafts history. In a continuously changing society, dress becomes a principal symbol of local societies with innumerable combinations of local habits and ethnographic traditions. “Greek traditional jewellery” follows grooming or ceremonial use, through an incredible embracement of the human body’s most focal parts. Large pieces are kept today as precious artefacts commemorating traditional functions of the 18th and the 19th centuries and truly manifest an important chapter of Greece’s ethnographic history.
Bejewelled snuff boxes, seals, storage boxes narrate daily life activities, indicate social standing, and testify daily routines. Nowadays, these small objects are debased works of art and are often granted insufficient space in museum displays. Although our investigation has uncovered thousands of these precious decorative arts together with their making, mechanics, and many other secrets, a selection has been meticulously chosen to display accountable highly elite social activities such as smoking and writing.
22/03/2022 – 22/07/2022
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
Athens
A History of Contemporary Czech Jewelry Design
Exhibition to be rescheduled
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.
11/11/2020 – 31/01/2021
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
Modena
Connessioni. Gigi Mariani per i 150 anni del Museo Civico
Connections. Gigi Mariani for 150 years of the Civic Museum
Extended to 30 January. Ending soon
museocivicomodena.itA tribute to the 150th anniversary of the Civic Museum, this exhibition is the result of a long process of approach by the goldsmith Gigi Mariani to the multifaceted heritage of the museum, from which he drew inspiration to create an exclusive collection of jewels that recall reflections, details, suggestions among the archaeological, ethnological and artistic collections.
The jewels unfold in a path through the exhibition halls and each of them offers a precious surprise, enhanced by a ray of light that delivers it immediately to the eye of the visitor.
6/11/2021 - 30/01/2022
Museo Civico di Modena
Largo Porta S.Agostino, 337, 41121 Modena
Tuesday - Friday, 9.00 - 12.00, Saturday - Sunday 10:00 - 19:00
Admission free
Padua
Pensieri preziosi 16 - Chronos
Precious thoughts 16 - Chronos
Ending soon
padovanet.it/evento/mostra-pensieri-preziosi-16-chronosThis Exhibition of contemporary jewellery is now in its 16th year.
On display are the works of seven internationally renowned artists: Georg Dobler, Jürgen Eickhoff, Herman Hermsen, Winfried Krüger, Ruudt Peters, Ramon Puig Cuyàs and Graziano Visintin from Padua.
The exhibition is curated by Mirella Cisotto Nalon and promoted by the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Padua, with the contribution of the Cassa di Risparmio di Padova and Rovigo Foundation.
20/11/2021 - 6/02/2022
Oratorio San Rocco
via Santa Lucia - Padova
Tuesday to Sunday, 9:30 to 12:30 and 15:30 to 19:00
Free admission
NETHERLANDS
Apeldoorn
Nieuwe Verleidingen
New Temptations
coda-apeldoorn.nl/nl/agenda/nieuwe-verleidingen
Wearing jewellery is often about identity and awareness. Jewellery is part of a constantly changing fashion scene in which ever-changing accessories play an important role. With over 10,000 objects, CODA has the largest museum collection of modern artist's and fashion jewellery in the world. A collection that is growing steadily through purchases and loans as well as donations and legacies. From 28 November, the Van Reekum Gallery in CODA Museum presents the exhibition "New Temptations" with a selection of acquisitions made over the past two years.
28/11/2021 – 6/03/2022
CODA
Vosselmanstraat 299, 7311 CL Apeldoorn
Monday - Saturday: 10.00 - 17.00, Sunday 11.00 - 17.00
Adults €10
Assen
Under the spell of Mount Ararat. Treasures from ancient Armenia
All museums in The Netherlands will be closed till 25 January 2022
drentsmuseum.nl/en/exhibitions/under-spell-mount-ararat Visitors to this exhibition will go on a journey through the rich history of Armenia. From the Stone Age, in which homo erectus travelled from Africa to Eurasia to settle in what is now Armenia, via the first important leaders who had themselves buried in monumental mounds around 1500 BC, and the Kingdom of Urartu, to the great realm of King Tiridates III (AD 287-330), who made Christianity the state religion.
Gold and silver ornaments, weapons, pottery, and bronze figurines in the shape of animals and warriors – around 170 in total – will provide an impression of the impressive archaeological wealth of Armenia, from the earliest times until the arrival of Christianity. Many of these valuable objects will be on display in the Netherlands for the first time.
One of the exhibition’s highlights will be a relic of Noah’s Ark. Saint Jacob of Nisibis is said to have found this piece of wood from the Ark at the foot of Mount Ararat in the 4th century AD. The relic is kept in the oldest cathedral in the world: Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Armenia.
24/04/2022 – 18/09/2022
The Drents Museum
Brink 1, 9401 HS, Assen
Tuesday to Sunday: 11.00 - 17.00
Adults €15
Leiden
Pracht en precisie
Magnificent and Meticulous - Highlights from the collection of cut stones
All museums in The Netherlands will be closed till 25 January 2022
rmo.nl/en/exhibitionsThis exhibition brings together the most beautiful and remarkable cut stones from the collection of the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities. You will see over a hundred examples of these colourful and often precious gems with engraved images. They come from the ancient Near East, Egypt and classical antiquity. Some are no larger than a fingertip. The stones display images of gods, animals, symbols, emperors and magic spells. The exhibition introduces you to the extraordinary craftsmanship of the artists who cut stones in antiquity and the centuries that followed. You will discover the symbolism behind varieties of stone and the enormously diverse engraved images. Enormous enlargements of some of these minute scenes are projected around the room. In addition, you will get to know the owners and admirers of the stones and the many ways they used them over the centuries. To complement the stones and their images, the exhibition also contains antique chests of drawers that were used by 19th-century collectors.
9/02/2020 – 4/09/2022
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
Rapenburg 28, 2311 EW Leiden
Tuesday to Sunday, 10.00 am to 5.00 pm
Adults €12.50, Children under 18 €4
Leiden
5,000 Years of Beads
All museums in The Netherlands will be closed till 25 January 2022
rmo.nl/en/exhibitions The national archaeological museum of the Netherlands wIll show a small but densely packed exhibition on excavated beads, that range from the first prehistoric beads through Roman jewellery until the large-scale production of beads in Venice and Amsterdam in the 17th century.
There is an abundance of strings of beads from the early-medieval period, the heyday of beads, but prayer beads from the Later Middle Ages feature heavily as well. Most objects come from the extensive stores of the Museum and have never been shown before. These are complemented by favourite strings of beads from private individuals, that include a 16th-century rosary made of skull beads, plus a spectacular medieval manuscript from the University Library of the Free University of Amsterdam (only on show for the first months) and equally spectacular modern bead art by world champion Floor Kaspers.
23/01/2022 – 8/05/2022
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
Rapenburg 28, 2311 EW Leiden
Tuesday to Sunday, 10.00 am to 5.00 pm
Adults €12.50, Children under 18 €4
Nijmegen
Jewellery from Aotearoa New Zealand
Extended to 1 March 2022
marzee.nl/current-exhibitions New Zealand jewellery is seen in the wider world as a free spirit that turns away from convention and description.
Obviously, the work comes from makers who connects to their ideas, and those ideas occur from the two islands in the middle of the Pacific, far away from the accumulation of common institutional conventions.
New Zealand history is built upon pioneering spirits. Its contemporary jewellery history is still traceable with most artists still active. In this exhibition are a few of those pioneering spirits who showed inspiring ways throughout their careers.
7/11/2021 – 1/03/2022
Galerie Marzee
Lage Markt 3 6511 VK Nijmegen
Tuesday to Friday, 10-18, Saturday 10-17
AMERICAS
USA
Cincinnati OH
Simply Brilliant: Artist-Jewelers of the 1960s and 1970s
Ending soon
cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/exhibitionsJewellery of the 1960s and 1970s was as groundbreaking as the era itself. The space race, rock ‘n’ roll, the Beatles, the Vietnam War, the Kennedy assassinations, the Civil Rights movement, Pop Art, the Women’s Movement, the widespread use of drugs, the Pill, and the concept of free love were all facets of cultural change associated with these two decades. These social deviations set the stage for what jewellers had to offer, expressing individuality, nonconformity, and the aesthetic, political and intellectual values of those who wore it. The individual makers represented in this exhibition referred to themselves as artists first, jewellers second. They approached their work as a modern art form. Largely utilizing yellow gold and incorporating both precious and semi-precious gems, these artists were inspired by nature. They focused on organic forms, favoured abstract shapes and concepts related to space-age trends. They used unconventional materials such as coral, shell, geodes and moldavite and were unrivalled in the texture they brought to jewellery. Theirs was a style that was appreciated by individuals who were looking for something different in an era when different was best. This exhibition of approximately 120 pieces, drawn from one of the most important private collections in the world, assembled by Cincinnatian Kimberly Klosterman, features the work of independent jewellers such as Andrew Grima, Gilbert Albert, Arthur King, Jean Vendome and Barbara Anton along with work created for Bulgari, Cartier, Boucheron and other major houses. The exhibition is accompanied by a full-colour illustrated catalogue and includes essays by some of the most important scholars in the field. Biographies of each designer/house represented are paired with full colour images, extended text for a select number of highlighted pieces, and an appendix of maker’s marks.
The catalogue is reviewed in
JHT 42
22/10/2021 – 6/02/2022
Cincinnati Art Museum
953 Eden Park Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Tuesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m, Thursday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m.
General admission is FREE - Special exhibitions: Adults $10, Concessions $5
Dallas, TX
Cartier and Islamic Art: In Search of Modernity
dma.org/art/exhibitions/cartier
This major exhibition traces Islamic art’s influence on the objects created by Louis Cartier and the designers of the great French jewellery Maison from the early 20th century to today. The exhibition explores how Cartier’s designers adapted forms and techniques from Islamic art, architecture, and jewellery, as well as materials from India, Iran and the Arab lands, synthesising them into a modern stylistic language unique to the house of Cartier. Over 400 objects from major international collections, including the Department of Islamic Arts at the Louvre Museum and the Keir Collection of Islamic Art are on loan to the Dallas Museum of Art.
14/05/2022 – 18/09/2022
Dallas Museum of Art
1717 North Harwood, Dallas TX 75201
Wednesday - Sunday, 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Saturday: 11:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
General admission free. Charges for some exhibitions.
Eugene, OR
A New Woman: Clara Barck Welles, Inspiration & Influence in Arts & Crafts Silver
jsma.uoregon.edu/ClaraBarckWelles
Clara Barck Welles has long been recognised as the founder and owner of the Kalo Shop of Chicago, famous for its elegant Arts & Craft silver hollowware, flatware, and jewellery. Under her tutelage, the Kalo Shop trained and supported generations of designers, jewellers and silversmiths from its heyday from the early 1900s through the depression, until it finally closed in 1970. Originally formed in 1900 by Clara Barck (still unmarried at the time) and five other women graduates of the School of Art Institute of Chicago, the Kalo Shop was incorporated by Barck in 1905. Owned and directed by her, it was, as Darling noted in Chicago Metalsmiths, “the city’s most influential concern producing handwrought silver.” She served as its proprietor, manager, and guiding light until her retirement in 1939, when she moved to San Diego. In 1959, at the age of 91 years old, she gave the business to its remaining four employees.
Focusing on a select number of stellar works from the Kalo Shop and silversmiths in its orbit, and complementing the exhibition with scholarship on Clara Barck Welles’s larger career and social concerns, "A New Woman – Clara Barck Welles, Inspiration and Influence in Arts & Crafts Silver" will document an important chapter in the history of the American Arts and Crafts Movement. The well-illustrated exhibition catalogue will demonstrate the intrinsic quality of the works on view, and offer a fascinating window into the life of the uniquely gifted woman who was at their centre.
9/10/2021 – 2/10/2022
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
University of Oregon
1430 Johnson Lane, Eugene, OR 97403
Thursday - Sunday: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m, Wednesday: 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Adults: $5, Seniors (62+): $3.
Houston, TX
Rings! 1968 – 2021
crafthouston.org/exhibition/rings
Rings! 1968 – 2021 features an incredible selection of wearable pieces that capture the avant-garde notions of contemporary jewellery and represent the limitless creative potential of the ring. Throughout time, rings have signified personal and cultural connections around the world, communicating marital status, membership, and belonging, as well as marking the end of an important transition or the beginning of a new reality. Showcasing experimental materials and approaches, in addition to traditional metalsmithing techniques, the rings on view in this exhibition offer an examination of the cultural, political, and personal meanings of this timeless and ubiquitous form.
22/01/2022 – 12/03/2022
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft
4848 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002
Tuesday – Saturday, 10 AM – 5 PM.
Admission free.
Los Angeles, CA
Brilliance: The Art and Science of Rare Jewels
Ending soon
nhm.org/brilliance-art-and-science-rare-jewelsDiscover how gems and minerals are used in a wide variety of fields, from jewellery design to scientific research in geology, chemistry, physics, and other disciplines. Enter our Gem Vault and marvel at the brilliance of over one hundred spectacular objects — necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, and unmounted gems — drawn primarily from the works of master jewellery designer Robert Procop — that will be on display alongside minerals from the Museum’s collection.
8/12/2021 – 21/02/2022
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007
Wednesday to Saturday: 9:30 am to 5 pm
Adults: $15
Los Angeles, CA
Nubia: Jewels of Ancient Sudan
getty.edu/visit/exhibitions/future
For nearly 3,000 years a series of kingdoms flourished in ancient Nubia (present-day southern Egypt and northern Sudan). The region was rich in sought-after resources such as gold and ivory and its trade networks reached Egypt, Greece, Rome, and central Africa. This exhibition presents highlights from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston's extensive collection of Nubian objects and features superbly crafted jewelry, metalwork, and sculpture exhibiting the wealth and splendor of Nubian society.
12/10/2022 – 23/01/2023
Getty Villa Museum
Getty Villa Dr, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
Wednesday to Sunday: 10 am to 5 pm
Admission FREE
Muskegon, MI
Tiff Massey: Jewelry Box
Ending soon
muskegonartmuseum.org/exhibitionMultimedia artist and metalsmith Tiff Massey makes art and jewellery inspired by 1980s hip-hop fashion and her experiences living in Detroit. Building from an examination of the African diaspora, Massey delves into contemporary issues of race, class, and popular culture in large-scale wearable jewellery and sculpture, music, performances, and installations. Drawing from her “Everyday Arsenal” series, the artist transforms the MMA’s Olthoff Gallery into a flashy display of massive hip-hop jewellery, gold, and mirrors in a dynamic exploration of self-identity and fashion. A Cranbrook graduate with a MFA in metalsmithing, Massey is a two time winner of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge and a 2015 Kresge Arts in Detroit Fellowship recipient.
11/11/2021 – 20/02/2022
The Muskegon Museum of Art
296 W. Webster Avenue Muskegon, Michigan 49440
Tuesday - Saturday: 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m, Thursday: 11:00 a.m - 8:00 p.m
Adults: $10, Seniors (65+): $8, Students (17+): $6
New York, NY
45 Stories in Jewelry. 1947 to Now
madmuseum.org/exhibition/45-stories-jewelry
MAD 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 - 10/04/2022
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
Racine, WI
Get a Bead On: Jewelry and Small Objects
Ending soon
ramart.org/exhibit/get-a-bead-onOne of the primary definitions of a bead emphasizes its use in adornment or an ornamental capacity. Contemporary artists who work with beads sometimes adhere to these parameters and sometimes challenge them. This exhibition, comprised of works from RAM’s collection, reveals the expansive potential of beads for structure as well as decoration in contemporary art jewelry and small-scale objects.
Drawn together by a common form, the works included in this exhibition reflect a variety of perspectives on materials, techniques, and wearability. In addition to addressing these formal qualities, the artists also explore a range of social and cultural themes including perceptions of race, material consumption, and excess.
21/07/2021 - 22/01/2022
Racine Art Museum (RAM)
441 Main Street, Racine, WI 53403
Wednesday – Saturday, Noon – 4:00 pm
Adults $7, Concessions $5
San Francisco CA
Iris Eichenberg: Where Words Fail
sfmcd.org/exhibitions/iris-eichenberg
Since the mid-1970s, artists worldwide have reacted against the age-old exclusivity and preciousness of jewellery, advocating for conceptual statements creatively fabricated primarily from a wide assortment of nonprecious materials. With a thirty-year and counting studio practice centred first in Europe and now in America, German artist Iris Eichenberg is one of the most influential contributors to this discourse. Because of her tireless interrogation into materiality, Eichenberg exemplifies what noted critic and curator Glenn Adamson calls the “post-disciplinary” artist. Instead of focusing on one medium and process, Eichenberg continually seeks to find the craft processes and combination of materials that best suit the idea at hand. An educator and prolific artist who lectures and conducts workshops worldwide, she imparts this methodology — a direct outcome of the open, creatively tolerant environment she enjoyed while working in Amsterdam — to the numerous international jewellery artists who come to study with her.
25/07/2022 - 30/10/2022
Museum of Craft and Design
2569 Third Street, San Francisco CA 94107
Wednesday–Saturday: 10:00 AM–5:00 PM, Sunday: 12:00 PM–5:00 PM
Adults $10, Concessions $8
Santa Ana, CA
All That Glitters: The Crown Jewels of the Walt Disney Archives
bowers.org/index.php/current-exhibition
This exhibition features jewellery and accessories from Titanic, The Princess Diaries and other favourite Disney and 20th Century Studios films in a way that has never been done before. The three main sections each explore different facets of how jewellery is used to tell stories: “Jewelry Informs Character” explains what wearable accessories tell viewers about characters; the “Feature Vault” offers a jaw-dropping look at the most prized jewellery and accessories inside the Walt Disney Archives; and “Reflections on Reality” includes displays that tie earrings, cuff links, rings, tie pins, and more back to the Disney films and parks that they originated from.
"All That Glitters" brings together the best of old and new. Visitors will recognize iconic pieces from classics such as a rare merchandise locket from the 1960 film Pollyanna, the stunning “Heart of the Ocean” necklace from James Cameron’s Titanic (1997), and Anne Hathaway’s crowns and tiaras from The Princess Diaries movies (2001 and 2004). Never-before-displayed costumes and jewellery pieces will be exhibited. These special pieces include Mulan’s matchmaking outfit from Disney’s 2020 live-action film and the Genie’s lamp from Aladdin in their exhibit, ensuring that "All That Glitters" will brighten everyone’s eyes.
12/12/2021 - 19/06/2022
Bowers Museum
2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana, California 92706
Tuesday - Sunday, 10am - 4pm.
Adults $25, Concessions $22
Savannah, GA
Ring Redux: The Susan Grant Lewin Collection
Ending soon
scadmoa.org/exhibitions/ring-redux-the-susan-grant-lewin-collectionThis exhibition presents more than 100 avant-garde rings by artists who have reinvented the age-old and enduring jewellery form with a distinctively contemporary sensibility. The exhibition highlights exceptional acquisitions made across more than five decades by one of the most influential collectors of 20th- and 21st-century art jewellery. Reflecting Lewin’s openness to new artistic ideas, the collection reveals the pluralism of contemporary jewellery, resonating with aesthetic developments in art and design, craft and technology.
Placing the works into six distinctive groupings, the exhibition emphasises subtle differences in design, material, and workmanship that underlie each artist’s improvisations on the ring form. Rings based on strict geometry are juxtaposed with freer forms that extend the boundaries of the body. Rings that embrace a dense darkness are set against those exploring light and lightness or reveling in colour. Another grouping focuses on rings that engage the sense of touch with sensuous smooth surfaces or attract and repel with sharp edges and dangerous spikes. The largest grouping is devoted to works that communicate the complexity of human relationships, from the highly personal to the universal, or suggest grotesque or dream-like apparitions, embodying rich narratives crystallised in an intimate format. The exhibition includes a major gift of 50 rings to the SCAD Museum of Art Permanent Collection.
26/08/2021 - 30/01/2022
SCAD Museum of Art
601 Turner Blvd. Savannah, Georgia
Monday, Wednesday - Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m, Sunday noon - 5 p.m
Adults $10, Concessions $8
Springfield, MA
The Body Adorned: Artistry and Legacy of the Ancient Americas
Ending soon
springfieldmuseums.org/exhibitions/body-adornedFeather textiles, gold pendants, and greenstone ear rods are among the most exquisite adornments crafted by artists working in the ancient Americas. Designed to be worn both in life and in death, these treasures functioned as status symbols, ritual paraphernalia, and sacred channels to a more sublime realm. Often small in scale and intricately crafted, the adornments featured in this exhibition were created in sophisticated workshops by highly skilled artists. These splendid works of art offer insight into the values, beliefs, and achievements of indigenous peoples.
This exhibition explores the artistic adornment of the ancient American cultures of Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, and Mexico, as well as the influence that metalwork, textiles, and ceramics had on future generations of artists. In addition to including work made between 400 and 1550 CE, the display includes works by 20th century American designer and jewellery maker William Spratling (1900-1967), who spent over three decades in Mexico and was inspired by Mesoamerican art and architecture. The exhibition celebrates the enduring power of these brilliant motifs, and brings together different eras in dialogue.
4/12/2021 - 27/02/2022
Springfield Museums
21 Edwards Street, Springfield, MA 01103
Tuesday–Saturday: 10–5, Sunday: 11–5
Adults $10, Concessions $8
Wayne, PA
The Process of Becoming, The Jewelry Collection of Carolyn L.E. Benesh
Ending soon
craftforms.org/exhibitions/This exhibition will showcase the jewellery collection of the late Carolyn Benesh as it narrates the story of a life fueled by a passion for the created object and the friendships that were a rich byproduct of that quest. Carolyn was founding editor of Ornament Magazine along with husband, Robert Liu wherein they celebrated and documented the human tradition of wearable expression. Ornament Magazine’s current co-editors Robert Liu and son Patrick Benesh-Liu have selected one hundred pieces from Carolyn’s personal collection to be featured on view.
4/12/2021 - 29/01/2022
Wayne Art Center
413 Maplewood Ave., Wayne, PA 19087
Monday - Thuesday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Friday - Saturday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Washington, DC
Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa
Ending soon
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.
16/07/2021 - 27/02/2022
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.
Worcester, MA
Jewels of the Nile: Ancient Egyptian Treasures from the Collection of the Worcester Art Museum
Ending soon
worcesterart.org/exhibitions/jewels-of-the-nile In this exhibition, the public will be able to view the Worcester Art Museum's extensive collection of ancient Egyptian jewellery for the first time in nearly a century. The collection — much of it given to the Museum by Laura Norcross Marrs (1845-1926) — is remarkable not only for its breadth and quality, but also for its fascinating backstory.
Marrs was the daughter of Boston mayor Otis Norcross (1811-1882) and wife of amateur photographer Kingsmill Marrs (d. 1912). During a trip to Egypt in 1908, the Marrs met archaeologist Howard Carter (1874-1939), who would later discover the Tomb of Tutankhamun. Carter was originally offered work in Egypt because of his artistic talent and would supplement his income by selling beautiful watercolours of scenes from Egyptian tombs and temples. Laura Marrs had a keen interest in prints and watercolours, acquired many of them, and eventually donated them to WAM — which now holds the largest collection of these paintings.
The Marrs struck up a friendship with Carter, and they wrote letters and visited one another in Florence, Italy, and in Luxor, Egypt. Carter also advised them on purchasing antiquities — particularly jewellery, which was legal at that time. With his knowing eye and the Marrs' acumen, together they assembled an outstanding collection, and after Mr. Marr's death, Laura gave it to Worcester. Over 90 years later, their generosity will be celebrated in "Jewels of the Nile", which will showcase these rare jewels along with the Museum's other Egyptian holdings. One of the largest Egyptian exhibitions to be seen anywhere, "Jewels of the Nile" will include nearly 300 objects ranging from tiny beads to massive tomb walls — just in time for the centennial of Laura Marr's gift, as well as the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb.
18/06/2022 - 29/01/2023
Worcester Art Museum
55 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA 01609
Wednesday – Sunday, 10am-4pm.
Adults $18, Concessions $14
ASIA
JAPAN
Tokyo
Men's Rings, Collection Yves Gastou
lecolevancleefarpels.com/jp/en/mens-rings-exhibition
This exhibition showcases an array of about 400 rings including rings of the 17th-century Venice doges, American biker rings of the 1970s as well as ancient Egyptian rings and 19th-century “memento mori” skull rings among others.
The selection of rings on display is representative of the five themes that define the collection and illustrate its diversity : neoclassical, Gothic revival, Christian mysticism, vanities and otherness. Each ring contains a story that links it to the collector and resembles him, to which he has identified himself, like so many small pieces of himself. The exhibition, like a secret lair where he reveals his work, aims precisely to tell an anecdote, the story of a life devoted to art and love of objects.
This collection, unprecedented because it is exclusively dedicated to men's rings, whereas it is rather popular and contemporary to associate the jewel with the feminine, has never been exposed to the public outside L’ÉCOLE.
14/01/2022 - 13/03/2022
21_21 Design Site Gallery 3
9-7-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, 107-0052 Tokyo
Daily 10:00 to 19:00
Admittance FREE
HONG KONG
Hong Kong
Lacloche, Parisian Jewelers, 1892-1967
lecolevancleefarpels.com/hk/en/exhibition/lacloche
This exhibition celebrates Lacloche, the renowned Maison which was created in 1892 and had ceased its activities by the end of the 1960s. Its delicacy and poetry dazzled many eyes in the 1925 'International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts' in Paris, and later across both sides of the Atlantic, with its jewellery standing at the forefront of the Art Deco movement.
Bringing together over 40 Lacloche pieces of jewellery, cases, compacts, and precious clocks from around the world, this retrospective exhibition by L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts supported by Van Cleef & Arpels retraces the history of the Parisian jewellery house.
22/11/2021 - 6/04/2022
L’ÉCOLE Asia Pacific, School of Jewelry Arts
510A, 5F, K11 MUSEA, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Monday – Sunday, 1pm – 7pm
Admittance FREE
AUSTRALASIA
AUSTRALIA
Wagga Wagga NSW
Blanche Tilden - Ripple Effect: a 25 year survey
Ending soon
waggaartgallery.com.au/whats-on/current-exhibitions/blanche-tildenThis 25 year survey of the work of Melbourne-based jeweller and maker Blanche Tilden reveals her remarkable and critically acclaimed practice. Tilden has a unique approach to her materials, in particular, glass, which she explores both as a material for jewellery making and deploys as a metaphor for the connections between making, industry, the wearable object and the body. Her fascination with mechanical devices, fuelled by a desire to understand how things work, continually inspires her work.
This first comprehensive survey of Tilden’s career included historical and contemporary works loaned from numerous public and private collections. Tilden has reinterpreted previous work to create new forms that expand on her preoccupations with value, mechanical movement, and industrial and architectural uses of glass, translating something of the macro immensity of the built and material world to the intimacy of the jewellery object.
11/12/2021 - 13/02/2022
Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
Civic Centre, Corner of Baylis & Morrow Streets, Wagga Wagga NSW 2650
Tuesday - Saturday: 10am - 4pm, Sunday: 10am - 2pm
Admittance FREE