AMBERIF VIRTUAL SHOWROOM is an exhibition that, for the first time in Poland, was entirely realised in an online format. Nearly 200 buyers from 34 countries and 43 exhibitors from Poland and Lithuania logged in last June weekend (24-26.06.2021) to a specially prepared digital platform, enabling the presentation of premiere collections and matchmaking meetings. The platform featured 473 products, viewed 3521 times by logged-in buyers. During the event week, 21-27.06.2021, the Amberif Virtual Showroom website was visited 1606 times.
The numerical statistics appear satisfactory, though from a forward-looking perspective, the increasing satisfaction of business partners, who will use the offered solution more often and more boldly with an awareness of its growing importance, seems more significant – the organisers assure.
As the organisers emphasise, in addition to maintaining the continuity of business contacts, the most important goal of the digital platform was to implement an advanced IT solution that will accompany subsequent editions of the AMBERIF fair organised in a traditional format.
The inevitable hybridisation of many exhibition events, also in the jewellery sector, has allowed everyone to enter the world of e-commerce and supplement the offer of the International Amber and Jewellery Fair AMBERIF with a digital, interactive module available to buyers and exhibitors all year round – they inform.
The organisers hope that the completed project will become a frequently used extension of personal presence at trade fairs, not only during pandemics but also in the future – systematically building interest in Polish design, amber, and the offerings of jewellery companies in ever more distant corners of the world.
Amberif Design Award 2021: Skarb-Bijou-Schatz-Treasure
The traditional complement to the AMBERIF trade fair was the adjudication of two extremely important design competitions. The first of these is the international AMBERIF DESIGN AWARD competition with this year's guiding theme Skarb – Treasure – Schatz – Bijou, which in most European languages has a double meaning – a valuable object, but also a particularly dear person. The virtual award ceremony took place during AMBER EVENING – an event held in the trade fair's television studio, which everyone interested could watch thanks to a live broadcast. The award winners: Italian artist Ninfa Salerno – winner of the Gdańsk City President's Award, and Mylene Auquiere from Belgium – awarded the International Amber Association's Award and Sława Tchórzewska, who received the Gdańsk International Fair Award, sent short thank-you videos, at the same time talking about the sources of their amber inspirations.
The second important AMBERIF SELECTION competition had a slightly more analogue course. The jury session took place in a traditional format, and invited jurors – Krzysztof Jacobson, Marcin Wesołowski, Dorota Kos, and Dariusz Latoszek, representative of the Ministry of Development, Labour and Technology – assessed prototypes of amber jewellery delivered to the organiser’s seat by the exhibitors. The awards ceremony also took place during the AMBER EVENING gala. The double winners of the 2021 edition of the competition – recipients of the statue of the Minister of Development, Labour and Technology and the Gdańsk International Fair – were A2 Jewellery. The awarded works will become a representative feature of the next edition of the AMBERIF fair, serving as a global showcase for Polish design.
Amber Look, Gdańsk
During AMBER EVENING, three fashion shows could be viewed, combined with amber jewelry, all within a digital scenography setting. The designer duos for each show were: Aleksander Gliwinski (jewellery) and Magdalena Arłukiewicz (fashion); Ireneusz Glaza – CHILLI Jewellery (jewellery) and Kovalove (fashion); Rockmädchen (fashion) and designers participating in the Trend Book project: (jewellery) – Tomasz Kargul, Pawel Kaczynski, Radek Szwed, Sława Tchórzewska, Dorota Cenecka, Dariusz Zarański. The surprising backdrop for the entire AMBER EVENING event was a live-cooking show incorporating elements of Gdańsk and amber, prepared by master of culinary arts Bogdan Gałązka.
We hope that the pioneering exhibition venture AMBERIF VIRTUAL SHOWROOM has become an irreversible step towards the systematic digitalisation of business contacts in the jewellery industry, allowing us to enter an area that will increasingly define the rankings of companies, designers, and institutions associated with the Polish creative industry in the near future – emphasise the organisers.
AMBERIF VIRTUAL SHOWROOM
organiser Gdańsk International Fair Plc
Under the honorary patronage of Ministry of Development, Labour and Technology; Pomeranian Voivode; Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship; Mayor of Gdańsk
partners Association of Jewellery Appraisers; International Amber Association; Pomeranian Chamber of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises; Association of Goldsmiths’ Designers; National Chamber of Amber Economy; Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk; Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport; Amber Museum in Gdańsk
Press release