A few weeks ago we saw the end of the very successful fourth edition of Florence Jewellery Week, an event entirely dedicated to the world of jewellery, which this year has had a special endorsement by the actress Serra Yilmaz, a great fan and collector of contemporary jewellery, who, with her own personalized interpretations, wore some of the works by the leading artists in the exhibitions.
From 28th April to 2nd May, Florence was the European jewellery capital, with a full calendar of events including exhibitions, conferences, workshops and live demonstrations – with craftspeople, designers, scholars and researchers in the fields of design and the visual arts – which helped people understand how the horizons of contemporary jewellery are expanding and being redefined from a holistic and multi-disciplinary perspective.
FJW, held every 2 years, is a project conceived, co-ordinated and supported by the prestigious Florentine school Le Arti Orafe. Founded in 1985 by Giò Carbone, LAO has always organized events, exhibitions, meetings, promoting the culture of jewellery in its most complete expression.
Curated by its founder and Alice Rendon, this edition concentrated particularly on the interaction between artistic research, crafts, new technologies and recycling in the vast field of body decoration.
The works by the nine major artists selected (Jayne Wallace, Kazumi Nagano, Conversation Piece, Ana Rajcevic, Barbara Paganin, Rein Vollenga, Sam Tho Duong, Lauren Kalman, Anya Kivarkis) for PREZIOSA, the cornerstone event hosted by the former Carriage Gallery of Palazzo Medici Riccardi, gave expression to the key themes on which the concept was based, later discussed during the two days dedicated to the conferences.
A series of speeches was given by experts in jewellery, design and visual arts, namely Roberta Bernabei, Maria Laura La Mantia, Paola Stroppiana, Federica Fontana, Carla Riccoboni, Barbara Schmidt, Nantia Koulidou, and by some of the invited artists: Conversation Piece, Lauren Kalman, Ana Rajcevic, Anya Kivarkis, and Jayne Wallace, Annamaria Zanella & Renzo Pasquale.
Particularly, the presentation by Stroppiana was an opportunity to revisit the essential contribution of the pioneers of artistic jewellery through the loan of the BOLLMANN COLLECTION, displayed in Palazzo del Pegaso, the seat of the Tuscan Regional Council, together with the famous Headpiece entirely interwoven with gold by the master goldsmith GIOVANNI CORVAJA.
The PREZIOSA YOUNG exhibition, featuring the winners of the eponymous competition organized by LAO for up-and-coming figures in contemporary jewellery, had Florence as the first call on its tour, hosted by the elegant Palazzo Coveri Gallery. The exhibition, with works by the Chinese Xinia Guan and Zhipeng Wang, the Dane Anne Lahn Hornbæk Hansen, the Thai Pilynn Siriphanich and the Belgian Charlotte Vanhoubroeck, will continue its journey with stops in Holland at the Galerie Door, in Barcelona at the Hannah Gallery of KLIMT02, and following that in Padova, in collaboration with the municipality there.
New to this year’s event was PREZIOSA MAKERS, a project originating from a collaboration between LAO and ARTIGIANATO & PALAZZO, a shop window for craftspeople and designers selected by an expert panel, and the “FIVE-STAR JEWELLERY TOUR”, in which eight of the best hotels in the city (Dimora Palanca, Lungarno, Regency, Savoy, The Place, The Westin Excelsior, Villa Cora and Ville sull’Arno) offered their halls and drawing-rooms to show some pieces by artists from the main exhibitions.
Thanks to a collaboration with Firenze Fiera, LAO took part in MIDA, the International Exhibition of Craftsmanship, setting up a large atelier/workshop in Polveriera pavilion, with live demonstrations of bench and work provided by LAO students and teachers.
Many other side events have been organized by Florentine artisan excellences that joined FJW, confirming this event as a must-attend cultural event, an all-around encounter of the complex world of goldsmithery creation.
For more information please visit: www.preziosa.org