This is not another exhibition „with amber in the background”. It's a bold story of how a young generation of designers are experimenting with a material that has operated within a limited aesthetic framework for decades. The focus is on amber - organic, local, full of potential. And next to it - futuristic technologies: 3D printing, modelling in VR/AR, digital scanning, but also bold forms made with traditional jewellery techniques.
Design - prototype - expression
Unlike the large creative industries, jewellery allows designers to move quickly from idea to realisation. This makes the exhibition a laboratory of ideas - a place where different design languages meet: minimalism, experimentation, manifesto, nostalgia, rebellion. What all the works have in common is an openness to reinterpreting amber - as a carrier of meaning, emotion and identity.
The voice of a generation
The authors of the works are young designers associated with the Studio of Experimental Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. They are current students and recent graduates - now increasingly recognised creators, active in the fields of jewellery, design and new media art. In their projects, they refer to cultural, ecological and personal themes, treating jewellery not only as decoration, but also as a form of communication and identity manifesto.
Amber reinvented - glocal and hipster
Why amber? Because it is a local and global material at the same time - a „glocal signifier” associated with the Baltic Sea, but universal in its message. In the exhibition pieces, amber appears in large, expressive forms, unobvious colour combinations and surprising functions. Sometimes it plays the first fiddle, sometimes it is a subtle accent, but it always appears with a new meaning and in a new context.
Gdynia - a city open to design
TOP AMBER GDYNIA 2025 is also a natural link between amber and a city that has for years built its identity around design, architecture and art. Among the creators, many live and work here - out of choice, out of conviction, out of a need for proximity to the sea and a space open to creativity.
The organisers and curators hope that the exhibition will become a new summer tradition - a meeting place around amber, experimentation and young design.
TOP AMBER GDYNIA 2025 exhibition
Gdynia City Museum, 1a Zawiszy Czarnego St.
24.06 – 31.08.2025
Opening: 26 June, 6.00 pm
Organised by: Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, Faculty of Design
Curator: Prof. Sławomir Fijałkowski, cooperation: Zuzanna Franczak, MA
Partners: International Amber Association, City of Gdynia
More information: TOP AMBER GDYNIA 2025
