August 2026, Part 2
Art Jewelry Forum is pleased to share all jewelry news. If you’re a member of AJF, you may add news and ideas to this bi-monthly report by submitting here. If you aren’t a member, but would like to become one, join AJF here.
Some of the news items below have no accompanying images. AJF regrets not having the staff capacity to request imagery and permissions from non-members of AJF. You may send us a high-res image (1 MB or larger) for a news listing that concerns you by emailing our managing editor at nathalie [at] artjewelryforum [dot] org. We will promptly add it to the corresponding newsbyte.
OPEN CALL: AJF’S 2027 SOLO EXHIBITION AWARD
Open to artists of any age and nationality, this $20,000 grant has as its objective to support the creation of a solo exhibition to advance an artist working in the field of art jewelry. The proposed project should be about jewelry, loosely defined. Applications will be accepted starting September 1, 2026. Deadline: November 15, 2026. More.
AJF LIVE WITH GERALDINE FENN—SEPTEMBER 9, 2026
The inaugural recipient of AJF’s 2025 Solo Exhibition Award will take us inside the development of her exhibition, Geraldine Fenn: Dispatch from the Colonies. The show explored the power dynamics of European colonization in Africa. We’ll see highlights from the completed show and hear how the award created opportunities to research, learn new techniques, and make work on a scale that might otherwise not have been possible. With special guests. Register here.
TRAVEL TO HOUSTON WITH AJF: SEPTEMBER 23–26, 2026
Trip now open to all AJF members. We’ll visit the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, to celebrate two important exhibitions: the first US solo presentations of Bernhard Schobinger and Dorothea Prühl, both key figures in avant-garde art jewelry. Also: behind the scenes at MFAH with special guests Helen Williams Drutt English and Susan Cummins; a day-long symposium featuring leading voices in the field, followed by a reception; visits to the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, artist studios, museum collections; and other stops that reflect the breadth of the city’s creative life. Email danielle@artjewelryforum.org for info.
FEEL LIKE SEEING A JEWELRY SHOW?
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EVENTS
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NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS
UNEXPECTED PLACES, AT GALERIE DOOR AUGUST 29–SEPTEMBER 26, 2026
Presents Doris Betz’s new series of art jewelry. The artist draws inspiration primarily from nature: flowers, trees, plants, animals and movement. She gives free-flowing organic and geometric lines an open three-dimensional form that appears loose and spontaneous. However, only an extremely skilled hand can craft these seemingly free-flowing forms. Betz studied under Professors Herman Jünger and Otto Künzli. Opening: August 29, 3–6 pm. More.
STORIES ON THE PLANET: ASAGI MAEDA, AT FULLER CRAFT MUSEUM THROUGH NOVEMBER 8, 2026
A finely detailed exhibition featuring the wearable art of Japanese metalsmith Asagi Maeda, organized by AJF member Mobilia Gallery. A gifted storyteller, Maeda creates miniature sculptural worlds designed to be worn on the body. Created from wood, Plexiglas, resin, enamel, silver, gold, and precious stones—and often intricately engraved or enameled—the evocative artworks offer powerful reflections on everyday life. Swimmers, musicians, readers, and dancers express joy, tenderness, and sorrow, reminding viewers that even the smallest objects can hold entire worlds of feeling. Maeda studied sculpture at Tokyo Zokei University and later jewelry at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Now based in Tokyo, she continues to create and exhibit internationally, while teaching wax carving at Jyoshibi Art University. Info.
CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY COLLECTION EXHIBITION – TEREZA SEABRA
The show, to be held at MUDE, in Lisbon, will open September 24, 2026, in conjunction with the 3rd Lisbon Contemporary Jewelry Biennial. Since discovering contemporary jewelry, Seabra has always been focused on establishing the field in Portugal. A jewelry artist herself, she started the jewelry department at the cutting-edge school Ar.Co in 1978. In 1984 she opened the first Lisbon gallery devoted to contemporary jewelry, Artefacto 3. She opened Galeria Tereza Seabra, an AJF member gallery, in 1998. She supports and encourages makers—many of them her former students—by purchasing their work for her collection.
BJC’S THIRD ANNUAL GRADUATE EXHIBITION, AUGUST 14–SEPTEMBER 25, 2026
The Baltimore Jewelry Center is proud to present its third annual Graduate Exhibition, celebrating the next generation of jewelers and metalsmiths. Featuring artists completing both undergraduate and graduate programs, the exhibition reflects the breadth of contemporary jewelry education through a diverse range of materials, concepts, and making practices, highlighting emerging voices at a pivotal moment in their artistic development. This year’s exhibition features the work of 13 artists selected by the BJC’s seven-member Exhibitions Committee, representing undergraduate and graduate programs at 12 institutions across the United States and abroad. More.
UTE DECKER RETURNS TO GOLDSMITHS’ FAIR 2026
The leading annual jewelry event in the UK showcases the work of internationally renowned and emerging studio jewelers and silversmiths working in the UK. The Fair encompasses a broad spectrum of practices and is accompanied by a program of talks and curated exhibitions. Decker will show a selection of sculptural jewelry and wearable sculptures, including recent pieces in Fairtrade Gold, silver recycled from NHS X-Rays, and mixed media. The AJF member will also present new works from her Origami Folds series, created in precious metal and patinated copper with precious metal detailing. Held in Goldsmiths’ Hall, the fair presents a different group of makers each week. Find Decker during Week One, September 22–27, 2026, at Stand 66 in the Livery Hall. More.
PERSPECTIVES ON CONTEMPORARY JEWELRY: AN INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
At the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, scholars, curators, and artists will present a day-long symposium accompanying Going Underground: The Jewels of Bernhard Schobinger and The Jewelry of Dorothea Prühl. Dynamic talks and curator-led tours will bring new perspectives to each artist’s practice as well as greater insights into the dialogue between contemporary jewelry, political and cultural history, and contemporary art. Speakers: Renate Luckner-Bien, Iris Eichenberg, Claudia Schmuckli, and Cindi Strauss. A reception follows. September 26, 2026, 11 am–4:30 pm. Free; registration required. Unable to attend in person? Attend the livestream.
ONLY DAYS LEFT TO SEE FIRST IMPRESSIONS
In his First Impression series, Benedict Haener hammers diamonds into traditional jewelry forms in aluminum, leaving their impressions. The Sugar Free jewelry series by the winner of the 2026 Young Artist Award appears to be crafted of candy, but the sugary surface is composed of glass and diamonds. Familiar everyday items are creatively “transvalued.” The value is in the concept rather than the materiality. At Ornamentum through August 23, 2026. More.
MALENE KASTALJE WILL HAVE A SOLO SHOW AT OFFICINET
Called As the White Grass Grows, the AJF member’s exhibition will take place October 1–3, 2026. It will be held in the exhibition space of Danish Crafts & Design, in Copenhagen, as part of Smykkernes By 2026, Denmark’s jewelry festival since 2015.
OPHÉLIE HILBERT: CEUX QUI NOUS HABITENT, AT ESPACE BORAX
Traditionally, a jewelry mount exists to show off a stone in its best light. This exhibition throws out that logic. The mounting becomes a support in which a material has melted and solidified. September 5–6 and 12–13, 2026. More.
CHECK OUT THE PROGRAM FOR 3RD LISBON CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY BIENNIAL
With the theme of “Coexistences,” the program includes exhibitions, a colloquium, a gallery expo, and master classes. Takes place September 19–27, 2026, with many of the shows lasting beyond those dates. Info.
HELP FUND JENNIFER ALTMANN’S BOOK
A necklace made of tangerine rind. A brooch with Barbie doll legs. Earrings made from rabbit fur. These jewels—and many more—will be featured in Rejeweled: Ordinary Objects Become Extraordinary Adornments. The book will profile 25 American artists who make jewelry using discarded materials—everything from deer antlers to plastic takeout containers, from dollar bills to olive pits. To find out more, go here. To donate, go here.
FINAL DAYS—REFLECTING: WISCONSIN’S WOMEN METALSMITHS AT RAM
See work created by artists who have lived and/or taught in Wisconsin, including AJF member Eleanor Moty. The artists in the show push material and conceptual boundaries as they explore a wide range of processes and themes, including nature, place, value, and femininity. At Racine Art Museum through August 29, 2026. More.
STATEMEANT, AT ZU DESIGN THROUGH SEPTEMBER
The stateMEANT exhibition brings together bold, thoughtful work with something to say. The focus is on pieces that make a statement, whether that sits in the social, political or environmental space, or speaks more quietly about materials, process, sustainability, art and craft, or the realities of everyday life. Info.
OPEN CALL: YOU ARE NOT ALONE. THERE’S BUGS
Taller Eloi, owned by AJF member Jimena Ríos, seeks jewelry and small wearable objects inspired by insects, arachnids, amphibians, arthropods and other small wildlife. Open to jewelers and artists from all over the world. No restrictions on country, technique, or material. Deadline: September 25, 2026. Exhibition at Eloi Gallery November 7, 2026. Application.
PYRONEMATACEAE: ENAMEL MUSHROOM BROOCHES, NECKLACES, AND VESSELS, AT MOBILIA GALLERY
An exhibition of exciting new work by master metalsmith and enamelist Sarah Perkins. “I am enjoying working in jewelry again after many years of bowls and vessels. I like the small scale, working with jewelry forms that work with the body while being very three dimensional,” states the artist. The cup-shaped brooches in this series are based on the hairy rubber cup mushrooms that grows in the Midwest. Other brooches, with textured hemisphere forms, are inspired by growth patterns of siderite mineral specimens. Considered one of the best enamelists in the country, Perkins continues to amaze viewers with her superb forms, brilliant colors, and stylistic surprises which include stitched seams, gemstones and unusual textures. With great technical skills, Perkins raises the silver or copper forms which then serve as a canvas (inside and out) for the extraordinary painterly surfaces she creates.
NEWS FROM ALL AROUND
ALINE IN WONDERLAND – WE LOVE BUTTERFLIES II, AT GALERIE PONT EN PLAS
Through September 12, 2026, the butterfly takes center stage as a powerful symbol of change, transience, and renewed beauty. With works by Silke Fleischer, Hartog & Henneman, Karin Johansson, Jutta Klingebiel, Meeree Lee, Märta Mattsson, Sophia Oberhauser, Kathleen Reilly, Philip Sajet, Aline Vandeplas, Karen Vanmol, and Rio Yamamoto. Info.
REET SALONEN: DOWN UNDER, AT A GALERII THROUGH AUGUST 31, 2026
The exhibition stems from Salonen’s long-standing fascination with Oceania. Over the course of her travels during the past six years, she has drawn inspiration from the landscapes of New Zealand, the “great red land” of Australia, Samoa, and the unique cultures and people of these places. In Tallinn, Estonia. Info.
CALL FOR CONTEMPORARY CRAFT INSTRUCTORS
Contemporary Craft seeks skilled craftspeople to join its teaching roster and help grow a dynamic, inclusive, and creative community. They prefer instructors from Pittsburgh or the greater western Pennsylvania area to teach one-day Saturday classes and/or evening weekday series classes. This is an opportunity to teach in a well-equipped space, connect with enthusiastic makers, and join the growing community in the organization’s Metals, Wood, and Fibers studios. Info here.
PHILIPP SPILLMANN: MYCELIUM OF THINGS
Presents brooches created from objects found in forests while foraging for mushrooms. When he roams the woods, Spillmann often encounters unexpected remnants of human activity, such as abandoned coffee kettles, plastic fragments, tools, golf balls, ski poles, lighters, and shotgun shells. Each of these discarded objects carries stories of its own. Over time, the forest transforms the surfaces of these objects. Exposure to weather, microorganisms, and the passage of time alters each one differently. At Format, in Oslo, Norway, August 13–September 20, 2026. More.
BÆRBART: SELECTED WORKS FROM HEGE DAHLGREN’S JEWELRY COLLECTION
Also at Format August 13–September 20, 2026. In 2021, Dahlgren became captivated by Ingjerd Hanevold’s jewelry, and the next year she purchased several pieces. This was followed by countless visits to galleries and artists’ studios, where her interest in contemporary jewelry truly took shape. After only five years of passionate collecting, she now owns nearly 300 works by artists including Millie Behrens, Toril Bjorg, Liv Blåvarp, Veronica Cheann, Josephine Echer, Kristine Ervik, Ingvild Reinton Felis, Tamara Marbl Joka, Aron Li, Camilla Luihn, Konrad Mehus, Heidi Sand, Mitra Shamloo, Philipp Spillmann, Felieke van der Leest, and Dariusz Wojdyga. More.
AN EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW OF PARCOURS BIJOUX
From The French Jewelry Post, here. The Parisian event takes place October 1–31, 2026. Find out more here.
SPOTLIGHT TOUR: ASAGI MAEDA AT FULLER CRAFT MUSEUM
On August 18, 2026, at both 11:30 am and 2:30 pm, explore Maeda’s imaginative world, then create your own miniature diorama. Info and registration here. The exhibition Stories on the Planet: Asagi Maeda is on view at the institution, located in Brockton, MA, US, through November 8, 2026.
PAGES FOCUSED ON JEWELRY
WHEN WE SOLD GOD’S EYE: DIAMONDS, MURDER, AND A CLASH OF WORLDS IN THE AMAZON, BY ALEX CUADROS
The Cinta Larga had no contact with the West until the 1960s, yet ended up running an illegal diamond mine in the Amazon. When the highway pierced through their jungle, ranchers, loggers, and prospectors invaded. Members of the tribe lost their families to terrible new weapons and diseases. Pushed to assimilate, they struggled to figure out their new capitalist reality, discovering its wonders—cars, fridges, TVs, phones—and how to acquire them: by selling the natural riches of their forest home. Their wealth grew legendary. Then decades of suppressed trauma erupted into bloody retribution. Just-spotted nonfiction from 2024. More.
JEWELRY AND ARMENIAN GOLDSMITHS UNDER THE OTTOMANS, BY ARSEN YARMAN
For centuries, Armenia’s goldsmiths have shaped the art of jewelry with unmatched craftsmanship and exquisite designs. This two-volume luxury collectors’ set unveils their hidden stories, techniques, and masterpieces, bringing history to life through dazzling jewels. More.
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