January 2026, Part 1
Art Jewelry Forum is pleased to share the news that members of our community find noteworthy. Is something missing? The success of this compilation of compelling events, news, and items of interest to the jewelry community depends on YOUR participation. If you’re a member of AJF at the Silver level or above, you can add news and ideas to this bi-monthly report by going here. If you aren’t a member, but would like to become one, join AJF here.
EXPLORE JEWELRY IN SCOTLAND THROUGH AJF’S LENS: MAY 27–JUNE 2, 2026
Adventure to Scotland with AJF for an immersive journey into the country’s traditions in history, art, culture, craft, and jewelry. We’ll be based in Edinburgh, with day trips to Dundee and Glasgow. Highlights include: private curator-led tours of the National Museum Scotland to explore the history and context of Scottish jewelry; events with makers; private viewings of grad shows at Edinburgh College of Art, University of Dundee, and Glasgow School of Art; visits to Dundee Open Studios and the V&A Dundee collections, including the unique Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show; special panel discussion with Dr. Sandra Wilson and maker/educator Kristin Beeler to learn about the connections between makers’ works and the Scottish landscape; and lots more! Registration opens soon. This trip is open to members at the Silver+ level. Not sure of your membership level? Find your name here. Renew, raise your membership, or join here.
FEEL LIKE SEEING A JEWELRY SHOW?
Find listings from around the world on our dedicated exhibition page.
EVENTS
We have a dedicated page for them. Go here to see the list.
NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS
THE RESONANCE RESIDENCY FUNDRAISER FOR BROOKLN METAL WORKS
Brooklyn Metal Works is fundraising to launch the Resonance Residency, its first residency for jewelry artists. The Resonance Residency will offer artists at every level of their career an opportunity to develop their work and studio practice while enjoying the unique advantages of being in NYC and its contemporary jewelry scene. As part of its efforts, BKMW is fundraising through bundled selections of specialty publications—a generous donation from the personal library of Helen Drutt English, renowned art historian, educator, and founder of Helen Drutt Gallery. Help BKMW reach its first-tier goal of $20,000 to support an initial cohort of three jewelry artists! Get more info, check out the book bundles, and purchase one here. Make open donations here. This project is fiscally sponsored by Art Jewelry Forum.
HARRIETE ESTEL BERMAN SELECTED FOR SCHMUCK 2026!
Berman recycles ordinary materials from the waste stream of our society and turns it into extraordinary jewelry that examines value and identity in our consumer culture. Schmuck curator Sam Tho Duong selected almost 70 works from 29 countries for the special show that’s part of Handwerk & Design. More than 1,000 artists applied—a new record. Congratulations, Harriete! Additional info.
SOFIA BJÖRKMAN SELECTED FOR SCHMUCK 2026!
The entry, called Camouflage, consists of a necklace and a brooch made of crab shells that the artist picked at the shore in Sweden last summer. “Although the patterns blend into the surroundings, sometimes the camouflage fails,” states Björkman. “Hungry birds catch the crabs and swallow everything except the shells that remain. Jewelry is not always associated with camouflage, but it can certainly function as such. It can harmonize with a wearer’s identity, be a social code, and a symbol that protects and reinforces a person’s strengths and weaknesses.” Bjorkman serves on AJF’s board. Her gallery, Platina, is an AJF member gallery.
THREE PAST AJF HONOREES SELECTED FOR SCHMUCK 2026
Sharon Massey won AJF’s 2009 Emerging Artist Award. Lynn Batchelder won the 2016 Art Jewelry Forum Artist Award. And Marion Delarue was a finalist for AJF’s 2022 Young Artist Award. We’re delighted you were all selected for Munich’s special show this year!
VERONIKA FABIAN SELECTED FOR SCHMUCK 2026!
Congratulations! Fabian serves on AJF’s Editorial Advisory Committee.
ARTISTS SELECTED FOR SCHMUCK 2026
Cheers to Jeanne-Sophie Aas, Ela Bauer, Catalina Brenes, Esther Brinkmann, Jheng Gang Chen, Xi Chen, SooHyun Chou, Eunmi Chun, Pilar Cotter, Laura Deakin, Pura Ferreiro, Fabiana Gadano, Jill Baker Gower, Batho Gündra, Yu-Hsun Hsieh, Tzu-Yun Hung, Anvita Jain, Yonghak Jo, Malgosia Kalinska, Deimantè Kiesuitè, Mira Kim, Esther Knobel, Ngaching Ko, Ute Kolar, Joshua Kosker, Julia Maria Künnap, Mia Kwon, Heng Lee , Jeanine van der Linde, Jana Machatová, Jorge Manilla, Patricia Mogni, Floor Mommersteeg, Carla Movia, Hannah Offermann, Jiun-You Ou, Wiebke Pandikow, Dahee Park, Jieun Park, Maria Eugenia Ramos, Masoumeh Rezaeilouyeh, Juan Riusech, Bernhard Schobinger, Danni Schwaag, Annie Sibert, Hye Jung Sin, Yuxin Song, Sabine Steinhäusler, Sanna Svedestedt, Jess Tolbert, Olaf Tønnesland Hodne, Iris Tsante, Youjin Um, Karen Vanmol, Lilli Veers, Zhipeng Wang, Wei Wei, Zixin Wei, Kexin Wen, Yu-Hsiu Weng,Grace Yu Piper, and Antal Zilahi.
TRIBUTARIES: KAT COLE | MEDITATIONS, AT THE METAL MUSEUM
Cole captures quiet, fleeting moments in steel and glass, exploring the human experience. She begins by cutting hand-drawn oval shapes from steel, embracing the imperfections of working this way. Using a rhythmic swinging hammer, Cole transforms the jagged edges of metal into soft, rounded forms. Eventually, the process leads to gleaming puddles of deep color. These rich enameled surfaces are set against bare, blackened steel. The resulting works reflect a search for peaceful moments in a chaotic world. For Cole, the repetitive physical act of creating this body of work provides intentional time to contemplate grief, loss, and how one builds a meaningful life. Through March 8, 2026. Info.
AJF AMBASSADOR LESLYE ZHANG TO SHOW AT COLLECT
“Thank you, Sally and B.R. Gallery, for inviting me to join Collect Art Fair 2026,” says Zhang. “See you in London.” Collect will run February 26–March 1, 2026. More.
MAD ABOUT JEWELRY 2026: MAY 5–9, 2026
The Museum of Arts and Design’s signature benefit celebration and annual curated sale returns for its 26th year. Discover extraordinary, artist-made jewelry from 45 visionary creators spanning 20+ countries, from emerging talents to internationally acclaimed innovators. Meet the artists. Shop the jewelry. Experience the magic. AJF member Bryna Pomp directs the event. Info.
GATHER AND GROW, AT BJC JANUARY 30–MARCH 13, 2026
A solo exhibition of new works by Margaret Jacobs, a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) metalsmith whose sculpture and powder-coated jewelry reflects on kinship with botanicals, medicine plants, and the natural world. Rooted in relationships with land, plant relatives, and Kanien’kehá:ka ecological and cultural knowledge, her work references culturally significant plant forms as living kin. Drawing also from historical and contemporary Kanien’kehá:ka craft objects, Jacobs recontextualizes their forms and values in metal, creating layered narratives within her work. Opening reception January 30, 5–8 pm. More.
WATCH THE RECORDINGS OF NYCJW25
Among them is the talk between renowned pearl carver Shinji Nakaba and writer Melanie Grant. In a rare in-depth conversation—his first outside Japan—they discussed how he came to pearls as a material, the twists and turns of his creative journey, and the meaning behind his creations, both as an artistic practice and within Japanese culture. Check out this recording and all the others here.
0.01 CONTEMPORARY METALSMITHING AND JEWELRY EVENTS
An initiative of the Association for Contemporary Metalsmithing and Jewelry in Israel. The central program is the Melting Point exhibition, at the Museum for Islamic Art, Jerusalem, Israel, through February 14, 2026. Alongside it, satellite events take place in Jerusalem and at additional locations across the country. The programming marks the Association’s first public initiative. Founded approximately three years ago, the Association has, over the past year, begun to operate as an organized professional community bringing together practitioners, curators, researchers, and educators active in the field. AJF member Davira Taragin brought this program to our attention.
INTERVIEW WITH AURÉLIE GUILLAUME
Influenced by comics and fashion illustration, the Canadian artist invites you into a humorous world populated by colorful, whimsical characters. Come inside here. Guillaume’s work is sold exclusively at Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h.
NEWS FROM ALL AROUND
THE NY TIMES COVERS MAKK’S NEW JEWELRY EXHIBITION
One of the first items you’ll see in From Louise Bourgeois to Yoko Ono is a ring by Ono. It’s near a brooch and a necklace by Bourgeois. They’re part of a show of 101 works by 45 female artists at the Museum of Applied Arts Cologne. After these pieces, the remaining ones are arranged alphabetically by artist, “to be, kind of, neutral,” said MAKK curator Lena Hoppe. The display begins with a brooch and a bracelet by Lynda Benglis, an American visual artist, and ends with a ring by Zhou Yiyan, a Chinese sculptor. More. MAKK webpage here.
ANNAMARIA ZANELLA AMONG TOP BIDS AT QUITTENBAUM AUCTION
At the December 10, 2025, sale, collectors were particularly interested in rare pieces of jewelry with artistic appeal. Gold played a central role, both in designer jewelry and in artist jewelry. Zanella’s curved ring fetched €3,200, while Ettore Sottsass’s Wheel design, for Cleto Munari, went for €5,500. The highest bid was €14,000, for a necklace with matching ear clips by Haroldo Burle Marx. Colored jewelry and classic designs from renowned houses such as Cartier and Boucheron were also in high demand. More.
HEARING AIDS BLING OUT
Auzi’s bejeweled covers and jewelry attachments are changing the way some people feel about wearing them. “I actually want to show off my hearing aids now,” says a delighted customer. The company’s name is Romanian for “to hear.” (The brand’s founder, Daniella Groza, was born in that country.) Auzi has designed a style in collaboration with the “Wicked” musical. More from the New York Times. Auzi’s website.
HAYET RIDA’S BRAND REFLECTS HER ROOTS IN GHANA
“I’m the first to tell my community that I have no idea what I’m doing,” Rida told the New York Times, “but I love art and I love sculpture. I can look at a stop sign and turn it into earrings. I look at things in life and turn them into jewelry.” This ability led her to create her brand, Khoi. The jewelry is often large and made of different materials. More.
SEE BIELANDER AT ZINK
David Bielander: Chiaroscuro will run at the gallery—based in Seubersdorf, Germany—January 24–March 8, 2026. The aim of Bielander’s trompe-l’oeils is not to mystify the viewer but to set up a humorous interplay between the wearer and the jewelry itself. More.
UNCERTAINTY: A TRIBUTE TO KADRI MÄLK
Over an intensive 10-day program, the participants in this group exhibition visited Mälk’s retrospective exhibition in Tallinn, met with curators and artists, and explored the history of Estonian contemporary jewelry. They continued their work at Nida Art Colony, created in the landscape, writing, documenting, and reflecting. They were not encouraged to imitate Mälk’s aesthetics or replicate her methods, but rather to encounter. On view at the Kaktusai Art and Project Space of the Vilnius Academy of Arts Telšiai Faculty, through January 30, 2026. More.
WHAT’S SLICK RICK’S FAVORITE JEWELRY?
“My favorite jewelry piece,” the rapper told the New York Times, “—the one I walk around with and wear the most—is my Mother Mary [chain]. That’s, like, almost an everyday thing. It’s not as big. The other one is my Africa chain. That’s one when I have to really go all out”. See more of the rapper’s jewelry here, and read about his top-10 favorite things in life here.
OPPORTUNITIES
OPEN CALL FOR A BOOK INSPIRED BY TAROT
The Mazlo Fund invites contemporary jewelry artists and visual artists to submit one or more pieces inspired by the imagery of tarot for inclusion in an upcoming book titled #tarot. Open to all, regardless of age. Any works, including previous creations, may be submitted for publication, provided they reference the imagery of the 22 major arcana of the Tarot de Conver. Selected pieces will be showcased alongside the artist’s profile and the technical details of the work. Deadline: January 15, 2026. Info.
XXII INTERNATIONAL GOLDSMITH ART COMPETITION
The theme: Silence. In a world that talks too loudly, too fast, and too much, silence becomes a choice. An escape from the multitude of stimuli. A space where you can finally hear yourself. A pause between words. A breath. A look inward. The awards ceremony will take place on March 26, 2026, at the Museum of Amber in Gdańsk, Poland, within the framework of the AMBERIF Fair. Deadline: January 31, 2026. Info
PAGES SPOTLIGHTING JEWELRY
COSTUME JEWELRY: THE COLLECTION OF PATRIZIA SANDRETTO RE REBAUDENG
Presents nearly 600 exquisite pieces from the 1930s to the new millennium. With a myriad of designs, a disregard for conventions, and eclectic sources of inspiration, costume jewelry is frivolous yet irresistible. With constantly evolving styles and forms, reproducible in unlimited numbers and at low cost, it’s the quintessential “democratic jewelry,” available to all. By Carol Woolton and Maria Luisa Frisa, from Taschen. More.
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