AJF returns to Munich for jewelry week 2026. Here's what we've planned—please join us!

We will once again have a booth in the Messe, in the Frame section, and will share it with Arnoldsche Art Publishers.

We'll give free tickets to the Messe to members of AJF
• Members at Pewter ($50) get two free tickets
• Members at Bronze ($150) or above get four free tickets
• Get your tickets here.

For AJF members only. Not a member? Join here. Unsure of your membership level? Find your name here.

AJF will deliver digital tickets to your email on Monday, March 2, before the fair. If you do not receive your tickets, please email danielle@artjewelryforum.org.

The events we've planned for Munich include:
• The presentation of the 2026 AJF Young Artist Award, supported by Karen and Michael Rotenberg, on the main stage of the Messe on Saturday, March 7, 2026, 17:15 (5:15 pm)
• Our annual members-only dinner. Join us in the warm, convivial atmosphere of Conti restaurant for a kitchen party that includes your choice of appetizer, entrée, dessert, and coffee—plus two glasses of wine as you meet and toast the winner and finalists of the 2026 Young Artist Award, supported by Karen and Michael Rotenberg. Takes place Saturday, March 7, 2026, at 19:00 (7 pm). Get more information and register here
• A speaker series consisting of more than a dozen talks on controversial topics in the field. A selection of talks will occur every day in our booth in the Frame area of the Messe. See the schedule below
• A presentation by Susan Cummins about the new book Marzee. Takes place at Galerie Handwerk on Friday, March 6, 2026, 10 am–12.30 pm. Copies of the book will be for sale in our booth at the Messe and in the Arnoldsche pop-up bookstore at Galerie Handwerk
• An afternoon-long jaunt to see the exhibition David Bielander: Chiaroscuro. We'll take a chartered coach to Galerie Zink, in Seubersdorf, Germany. The artist will be present with us on the bus, and the gallery will treat us all to refreshments. Departure from Galerie Handwerk at about 12:30 pm on Friday, March 6, 2026, after the book presentations held there that morning wrap up. The coach will bring us back to Galerie Handwerk; we hope to return in time for evening lectures, but cannot guarantee it. Seats are limited. Free and open to all, but registration is required; register here (waitlisted)
• Françoise van den Bosch Foundation in Conversation with AJF: Awards. For the first time, the two organizations will come together to talk about their respective awards and how they aim to support artists through them. While both are incentive prizes, they focus on different stages in an artist’s career. Why are these awards so closely connected to the core ambitions of both organizations: advocating for the field of contemporary art jewelry, promoting the profession by encouraging young talent, increasing the visibility of contemporary jewelry and rewarding proven talent? A common thread in the conversation will be Noon Passama, recipient of the AJF Emerging Artist Award in 2012 and current Françoise van den Bosch Award winner. At the end of the talk, the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation will present the bracelet designed by Noon Passama for the 45th jubilee of the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation. This limited-edition piece will be available to try on and purchase at the booth. The panel will consist of Stef Fedor, Executive Director of AJF, Marta Costa Reis, Chair of the AJF board and head of their award committee and Vanessa de Gruijter, Chair of the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation. Moderated by Astrid Ubbink, board member of the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation. In our booth on Saturday, March 7, 2026, at 10 am.
• A photo station to create a digital scrapbook for this year’s jewelry week, in our booth
• Giveaways of jewelry coloring cards by Jimena Ríos, also in the booth
• A schedule of AJF member events across the city; find it here

Many—but not all—of our events will take place in our booth. There, Arnoldsche will display approximately two dozen of its latest jewelry titles. The books will be available to purchase on the afternoon of Sunday, March 8. We will also be selling copies of the new Marzee book in our booth.

Schedule for AJF Speaker Series 2026: Jewelry That Makes You Think
Our Speaker Series takes place all five days of Munich’s jewelry week. The talks happen in our booth in the Frame section of the Messe. Free, and open to all.

Find speaker bios here.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2026
11:00 Aaron Decker, Call It a Niche
The American jeweler asks, is art jewelry just another niche, and if so, what does it serve?
13:00 (1 pm) Elena Karpilova, To Climb Up a Ladder
The educator, artist, and writer from Belarus/Portugal reflects on how to see the contemporary jewelry scene in a broader context—and why we all need, from time to time, to climb up a ladder so that the “furrows” in the ground, when viewed from above, turn into meaningful shapes.
14:00 (2 pm) Roberta Bernabei, Re-Conceptualizing [Dis]obedient Jewelry Material Agency and the Disruption of Normative Expectations
The Italian-British editor of JJR reframes jewelry as (dis)obedient bodymatter—an active agent rather than a passively worn object.

THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2026
11:00 Kevin Murray, Re-Wilding Jewelry: Contemporary Adornment for the “More than Human”
The Australian editor of Garland magazine poses the question: What does it mean to make jewelry for the "more than human"?
13:00 (1 pm) Mette Saabye, Jewelry Dialogues
The Danish maker and curator examines jewelry as a language for entering into dialogue with people.
14:00 (2 pm) Paul Derrez, Jewelry: Beauty or Activism?
The Dutch maker and gallerist asks what do we make, collect, or wear—which choices do we make?

FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2026
13:00 (1 pm) Mike Holmes, William Clark Jewelry: Lost & Found
The American gallerist asks, “What happens to jewelry once it has been released into the world? Hopefully it gets loved and worn, but many times it ends up forgotten in a drawer and sometimes lost for years …  waiting to be found.”
14:00 (2 pm) Caroline Broadhead, Rebellious Beads
The English artist and educator considers the bead. Just a small object with a hole, it can nevertheless convey so much social information, hold narrative, and be used for exchange and religious ritual.
15:00 (3 pm) Cindi Strauss, Flashpoint: Contemporary Jewelry in the Museum
The field of contemporary jewelry consistently debates its lack of sustained presence in the encyclopedic museum. Why isn’t the work shown more often in meaningful ways? The American curator discusses the challenges and opportunities for change.

SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2026
11:00 Veronika Fabian, Is It Worth It?
The Hungarian-British maker examines the shifting contemporary jewelry landscape through the lens of a former market analyst.
13:00 (1 pm) Keith Lewis, Partly Miscible: My Uneasy Relationship with European Studio Jewelry
With tongue firmly in cheek, the American jeweler reflects on what he finds both interesting and irritating about European-influenced studio jewelry.
14:00 (2 pm) Tanel Veenre, Beauty as a Simulacrum, the Artist as a Fraudster
The Estonian artist introduces some of the world’s greatest manipulators and illusionists in the field of jewelry art. The artist as a fraudster, a trickster—not in order to deceive us, but to show how easily we believe. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 8
15:00 (3 pm) Dirk Allgaier, Thoughts on Jewelry and International Women’s Day on March 8: Three Impressive Female Artists from the Last 100 Years
On International Women's Day, the German publisher of fine craft books spotlights jewelry by three female artists. Who? Find out at the talk!

 

Watch the recordings of AJF's Speaker Series 2025
This fascinating series, which featured 16 talks over five days, took place from March 12–16, 2025, in the booth AJF shared with Arnoldsche Art Publishers at Munich's Messe. You'll find the recordings below.

The speakers included makers, collectors, curators, educators, and gallerists:
• Otto Künzli
• Liesbeth den Besten
• Khanya Mthethwa
• Chequita Nahar
• Ellen Maurer Zilioli
• Deedie Rose and Sarah Schleuning
• Geraldine Fenn
• Christoph Zellweger
• matt lambert
• Susan Lewin
• Jorunn Veiteberg
• Evert Nijland
• Mònica Gaspar and Patricia Domingues
• Ilaria Ruggiero
• Marta Costa Reis
• Atty Tantivit