Although Poland has a rich artistic jewellery scene - and Legnica has hosted the Legnica SILVER Festival since 1979, the second most important event in Europe dedicated to this field after SCHMUCK - Polish artists are relatively rare at the Munich exhibition. In 2024, it was Arek Wolski, whose works from the „Still Life” collection, which refers to the traces of our comfortable lifestyle, were qualified for the exhibition.
RECOMMENDED: SCHMUCK 2024 - international exhibition of artistic jewellery
In 2026, a project by Małgosia Kalinska - a multidisciplinary artist working on the borderline between jewellery and painting - was selected from over a dozen submissions. In her work, she reflects on the condition of the contemporary world, opposing the haste, excess and aggression of everyday life. Her works are a search for minimalism, harmony and attentiveness - values that guide her artistic activities.
The qualifying work comes from a series of objects developed over several years using the author's technique of polyurethane resins. This material allows the artist to build soft, biomorphic forms with a distinct lightness and spatiality. Intuitive spontaneity meets the discipline of matter here, and the scale of the objects remains in subtle dialogue with their delicacy.
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SCHMUCK 2026 exhibition
This year's selection of works was made by Sam Tho Duong, a jeweller and designer who belongs to the international elite of artistic jewellery makers. The artist is fascinated by things that escape our attention on a daily basis. With care, respect and a subtle sense of humour, he explores their structure and meaning, bringing out their essence and freeing them from their everyday context. In his hands, even the most banal materials reveal their hidden potential, becoming intriguing objects of desire - and it was this attitude that featured strongly in this year's selection.
Nearly 70 works from 29 countries were selected for the SCHMUCK 2026 exhibition from more than 1,000 applications - a record number of applications.
In selecting the jewellery for the exhibition, it was crucial for me to appreciate both craftsmanship and avant-garde creativity. The pieces selected should be masterfully crafted to demonstrate a high regard for traditional craftsmanship, and/or innovative and original to represent the avant-garde. New designs, unusual materials or innovative techniques should contribute to making the exhibition exciting and contemporary, concluded Sam Tho Duong.
This is how an inspiring exhibition was created, which shows the diversity and different paths of artists from all over the world. An exhibition that surprises with innovative artistic concepts, unusual materials and an artistic outlook on jewellery, which is not only an ornament, but above all a conceptual object that tells stories and comments on reality, often touching on important political, social and identity themes. Jewellery that is not only „to be worn”, but also - or perhaps even primarily - „to be thought about”.
