June 2026, Part 1
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.
AJF WEEKEND: MONTREAL—JUNE 12–14, 2026
AJF Weekends are a new way to gather with Art Jewelry Forum: shorter, more accessible programs that preserve the depth of exchange, access, and conversation that define AJF travel. Open to members and nonmembers alike. Cohosted with gallerist Noel Guyomarc’h, our first two-day, small-group program, in Montreal, will center around the opening of Dispatch from the Colonies, a new exhibition by South Africa–based artist Geraldine Fenn at Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h. Developed through the AJF Solo Exhibition Award, this exhibition represents the culmination of an extended period of research and making. Also: visit Aurélie Guillaume’s studio; curator-led tour of Wearable Art, at Musée des métiers d’art du Québec; curator-led visit to the newly reinstalled national museum galleries; celebratory dinner; and more. Info.
TRAVEL TO HOUSTON WITH AJF: SEPTEMBER 23–26, 2026
For our first visit back to Houston in almost 20 years, we’re arriving at an especially strong moment. 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. Each exhibition spans nearly 50 years of work. To complement the exhibitions, we’ll attend a day-long symposium featuring leading voices in the field, followed by a reception celebrating these two exhibitions—an opportunity to gather with fellow collectors, artists, and enthusiasts. Our program will also include visits to the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, along with artist studios, museum collections, and other stops that reflect the breadth of the city’s creative life. Save the dates; more info to come!
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
DONALD FRIEDLICH RECOGNIZED AS AMERICAN CRAFT COUNCIL FELLOW
Congratulations! Friedlich has been a leading figure in contemporary American jewelry for four decades. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, he served a term as President of the Society of North American Goldsmiths. His jewelry has been shown in museums all over the globe and is in many important institutional collections worldwide. More.
WILD HYBRIDES, JUNE 6–JULY 4, 2026, AT GALERIE DOOR
The artworks in this exhibition are the result of a relentless exploration by the Dutch artist duo Idiots (Afke Golsteijn and Floris Bakker) into the influence and scope of our human actions. This time, plant life takes center stage. Is it possible to mark out your territory while retaining complete freedom? Are the structures intended to protect us not also suffocating networks over which we are gradually losing our grip? Afke and Floris take us on their quest for self-reflection, the preservation and reclamation of territory, and the healing, gentle power of art. Reception with the artists present on June 6, 3–6 pm. More.
OPENING RECEPTION FOR HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE
To mark the occasion of Brooklyn Metal Works’s 15th anniversary, In The Gallery will present a juried exhibition of jewelry and objects by members of the Brooklyn Metal Works alumni network. This show is a reunion, a yearbook, a map, and a moment in time. The opening takes place June 13, 7–9 pm. The show runs through August 30, 2026. More.
40TH ANNIVERSARY OF COCKPIT OPEN STUDIOS
Cockpit Studios is an essential powerhouse of London’s craft, art, and design scene, a vibrant ecosystem where 175 emerging and world-renowned makers create—a business incubator and award-winning social enterprise. Normally visits are by appointment only, but its Open Studios (held in early June and the last weekend of November) are a convivial invitation into that world. Wander between workshops, talk directly with the artists, and see the tools and “thinking” that go into every piece. Find a unique, affordable gift or a museum-quality sculptural work—and everything in between. Here, curators and collectors, interior designers, and aficionados in the know come to scout for the next generation of talent or catch up with and acquire works by renowned craftspeople and artist makers. Read full article by AJF member Ute Decker here. Cockpit Bloomsbury Cockpit Yard Northington St London WC1N 2NP. Open Studios are in two locations: in Bloomsbury 4–7 June, 2026, and in Deptford 12–14 June, 2026.
BORDERLINES OF MATTER, AT THEREZA PEDROSA GALLERY THROUGH JUNE 28, 2026
This group exhibition brings together Karin Roy Andersson, Ela Bauer, Alice Biolo, Ute Kolar, and Federica Sala, whose practices are rooted in material investigation and cultural multiplicity. Though distinct in language, generation, and geography, the artists share a rigorous commitment to redefining the physical, conceptual, and poetic limits of their chosen materials. They treat matter not as a passive medium, but as an active space of resistance, transformation, and possibility. The “borderline” emerges both as a physical threshold and as a metaphor—between softness and structure, control and chance, tradition and experimentation, origin and reinvention. More.
HEIDI LOWE GALLERY CELEBRATES 20 YEARS, AND YOU’RE INVITED
Wheee, confetti for all! The party takes place in the gallery—at 119 Front Street, Lewes, Delaware, US 19958—on August 28, 2026, 5–9 pm. More.
DESTINATION BIJOU: JUNE 4–7, 2026, IN CAGNES-SUR-MER, FRANCE
The second edition of this event takes over the city to celebrate contemporary jewelry making through a rich program of exhibitions, talks, and workshops, with the support of the municipality and the Museum of Contemporary Jewellery. The exhibitions will be presented at the Château-Musée Grimaldi and Espace Solidor. Complete program here.
NEWS FROM ALL AROUND
GUILD FEST: FROM SCRAP TO SUBSTANCE
The Seattle Metals Guild hosts an afternoon that celebrates what happens when metalsmiths stop asking what a material costs and start asking what it can become. June 20, 2026, 1–4 pm, at Pratt Fine Arts Center. Free and open to the public. Info.
EXHIBITIONS CONTINUE IN LEGNICA
Find the program for the Legnica Jewellery Festival SILVER here. A number of shows will be on view in the Polish city until the end of July.
HOLLY ANN MITCHELL FEATURED IN SMITHSONIAN CRAFT SHOW
In a recent newsletter, Dr. Diana Baird N’Diaye, creative director of the African American Craft Alliance, noted that several artists in the AACA network had booths at the show for the first time. Mitchell is a joined paper jewelry artist. More.
BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY GRAD CEREMONY
Attend the School of Jewellery’s 2026 Industry Awards Evening, celebrating outstanding graduate achievement across jewelry, horology, and gemology. Applaud the next generation of talent on June 9, 2026, 5 pm. Info.
APPLY FOR ENJOIA’T 2026
The international competition is open to professional jewelers and students, who compete in corresponding categories. It recognizes entries that demonstrate creativity, technical skill, and innovation. Particular value is placed on the presence of a conceptual thread that explores and resolves the relationship between the body and the piece, as well as sustainability. Deadline: June 14, 2026. Info here. Apply here.
ART-À-PORTER, AT MUMAQ (QUEBEC) THROUGH OCTOBER 4, 2026
Presents unique pieces by 13 Québec artists. Drawing on their exceptional skills and expertise, they have created bodily adornments, wearable sculptures, and innovative and unusual pieces, transcending our conventional understanding of traditional jewelry. The artists propose a new relationship with the body, one characteristic of jewelry that is part adornment, part sculpture, and the result of technological innovation. More.
WHY ARE ATHLETES SO BLINGED OUT THESE DAYS?
A reader asked the New York Times. The answer: Fashion is a good way to communicate your individuality and personality, which is something fans now want to know about their favorite players. Besides catching attention, big jewelry—and lots of it—conveys success. More.
ART JEWELRY AND JEWELS AUCTION FROM QUITTENBAUM
Includes works by Friedrich Becker, Manfred Bischoff, Annamaria Zanella, Gerd Rothmann, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Otto Künzli, and many others, as well as artist-designed jewelry. June 18, 2026, starting at 6:30 pm CEST. See the lots.
SOME TYPES, AT ALTA FORMA, THROUGH JUNE 27, 2026
Three artists—Roseanne Bartley, Adam Cruickshank, and Kelly McDonald—explore the epistemological qualities of things, useful objects, and jewelry. Whether reframing a whole and its parts or collapsing an artwork and its account, these artists create unconventional indexes and pathways to make meaning. Symbols, glyphs, and fonts are broken down into new elements or transformed into entirely new things. In Melbourne, Australia. More.
CALL FOR PAPERS—JOURNAL OF JEWELLERY RESEARCH
This peer-reviewed online and open-access publication focuses on the design, theory, and praxis of jewelry studies. It promotes jewelry research methodologies, technologies, processes, concepts, materials, techniques, and aesthetics. Submit your paper or exhibition/book review for Volume 10 by August 10, 2026. More.
PAGES SPOTLIGHTING JEWELRY
ETERNAL JEWELS: A COLLECTOR’S JOURNEY
Celebrates the World Jewellery Museum’s 20th anniversary, inviting readers into the poetic vision of founder Lee Kangwon, whose museum is known as the “Jewel of Seoul.” Published here for the first time, the book presents extraordinary pieces alongside Lee’s untold stories from her diplomatic travels across four continents. From ACC Art Books. More.
COMING IN SEPTEMBER FROM ARNOLDSCHE
The Vienna-based lawyer and attorney Dr. Karl Bollmann (1943–2022) was a passionate enthusiast and well-respected connoisseur of international auteur jewelry, which he collected with his wife, Heidi, from 1970 to 2022. Sammlung Bollmann will be the first book to present the collection in its entirety. More. Going Underground: The Jewels of Bernhard Schobinger will examine the groundbreaking jewelry of this renowned Swiss avant-garde artist. This strikingly illustrated catalog will feature 50+ pivotal pieces of experimental jewelry, tracing the artist’s radical career, including his aesthetic inspirations in Dadaism and Concrete art, his Swiss cultural inheritance, and his abiding interest in Japanese culture. More.
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