Submissions will be accepted until March 30, 2009.
Please contact Studio 20/17 for further information.

Background

The “Pôle Bijou” today, proposes a contest centers on the theme “Childhood Jewelry”. The reasons behind this choice are :
“Les enfants d’Agathe Courtois”, a company located in the “Pôle Bijou”, proposes to dedicate the majority of its production to children.
The future exhibit location of the “Pôle Bijou”, which will open its door at the end of 2009, will be located in an old nursery.
This is the first contest initiated for the “Pôle Bijou”.

Returning to our theme:

Jewelry: a word that everyone is going to define by their own view and their own approach.
Childhood : a word that can have several different meanings depending on the dictionary used.
• Used to define the first years of human life, from birth to puberty,
• Used to defined children in their entirety, as a stage in life,
• Define the beginning, the birth of something,
• Used sometimes through analogy to depict a relative lack of maturity, a certain naïveté or innocence, in some cases a certain simple mindeness especially if talking about a person “regressing to childhood”.

Furthermore, the word childhood can be interpreted as a common inheritance to all human beings. Each one of us has had a childhood during which he/she has accumulated perceptions, sensations, emotions, and knowledge which contributed to the fabric of who we are today …

The theme, purposely very broad, can be discussed without any restrictions by the participants.

Article 1 – Contest Objectives

This contest of international dimension is exclusively open to students or young creators, self-employed persons or people, with less than 5 years of professional experience (proof will be required).
The objective is to create a jewelry or a collection of jewelry inspired by the theme “Childhood Jewelry”.

Two categories are proposed for this contest:
Jewelry as a series of duplicated pieces (between 50 to 100 pieces maximum)
Jewelry as a series of unique pieces
The contestant should clearly specify which category they would like to compete in. The contest is designed to evaluate the professionalism and the creativity of the young contestant engaged in artistic venues or the arts.

Article 2 – Technical Characteristics of the pieces

Materials to be used : No restrictions except for legal restrictions
Production Techniques : No restrictions
Retail unit price of the product:
Around 150 to 350 euros for Jewelry created as a series of duplicated pieces
Around 350 to 700 euros for Jewelry created as a unique piece

Article 3 – Contest Organization

Le contest is organized and administered by:
Pôle Bijou – Communauté de Communes du Cristal
2 rue Adrien Michaut
54120 Baccarat
France

Contact : Monique Manoha
+33 (0)3 83 76 06 99
Pôle Bijou Baccarat

Le contest will take place in two stages.

Stage 1: Preselection
Application of candidate and submission of project on paper.
15 to 25 proposed projects in each of the two categories described previously will be selected by the jury based on review of the submitted documents.

Stage 2: Selection
The candidates selected for the second stage must present either a prototype or a finished piece of their project. The jury will award the prizes based on the document submitted and the objects presented.

Article 4 – Stage 1 Procedure

Whichever the selected category is, the candidates documents must be received by midnight March 25th 2009, at the following address:
Pôle Bijou
Communauté de Communes du Cristal
2 rue Adrien Michaut
54120 Baccarat
France

They must include :
An application form (see attached) clearly indicating the chosen category.
For students, proof of enrollment, for employed individual, a copy of their work employment contract, for artisans or self employed candidates, a copy of their company’s Identification Number.
Colored designs along with dimensions (format A4 or A3) or electronic 3D files on CD in PDF format.
A full description of each object (materials, size…).
An explanation (in French or English) justifying the esthetic choices, the materials, and the techniques used.
Eventually mock-ups

The selection of the projects and candidates for the second stage will be decided by two juries (one for each category) comprised of:
• professionals of the jewelry industry
• professionals of the arts
• elected members of “La Communauté de Communes du Cristal”

The projects will be judged based on criteria of creativity, aesthetics and production feasibility (especially in the category of “series of duplicated pieces”).

The quality of the project presentation and the respect of the contest rules will be determining factors.

Both the selected and non-selected candidates will be notified of the jury’s decision by mail before the end of April 2009.

Non-selected projects will be returned to the candidates within a period of two (2) months after the final selection. The selected projects will be retained until the end of the contest.

Article 5 – Stage 2 Procedures

The candidates selected by the jury, in both categories, must submit their prototypes of their finished product between September 14th and midnight October 9th 2009.
These objects must be accompanied by an explanation clearly specifying to which initial project they correspond, as well as the candidate’s name and the category for which they are competing.

These pieces will be presented during a “General Public” exhibition between October 24th and November 28th, 2009. This exhibition will take place in the exhibit hall of the “Hôtel de Ville” of Baccarat. The presentation of the objects could include information from the application documents (drawings, ..)

The results of the contest and award of the prizes will take place Saturday November 28th, 2009 during the exhibit.

Article 6 – Prizes

Each jury (“Serie of Duplicated Pieces” and “Unique Piece”) will award three (3) prizes.
Two additional prizes will be awarded during the exhibit:
A prize “jeune public” awarded by popular vote of visitors to the exhibit who are younger than (13) thirteen years old.
A prize “public moins jeune” awarded by popular vote of visitors to the exhibit who are (13) thirteen years old and older.

Cash, artistic material or artistic tools will constitute the different prizes. A decision to produce the object by a partner enterprise could equally be made, in which case a production contract will be required to be signed.

The winners will be notified no later than November 20th, 2009 in order for them to make the necessary travel arrangements to be present for the distribution of prizes. Travel costs, as well as room and board will be paid by the contest organizer.

Article 7 – Project Rights

The candidates authorize the “Pôle Bijou” from “la Communauté de Communes du Cristal” to display their project (winners or non-winners), to cite their authors and to use their design for information and promotional purposes, by any means of communication, especially by print articles, brochures, internet sites, exhibits, and public display, without time limits.

Article 8 – Responsibility

The “Pôle Bijou” from “la Communauté de Communes du Cristal” reserve the right, to shorten, lengthen, delay, modify or cancel at any time the contest under any circumstances. They will contact the candidates regarding any delays as quickly as possible. The contest organizer will not be responsible for any type of liability.

Article 9 – Disputes

In case of disputes related to interpretation or execution of the rules, or in general related to the way the contest is run, french laws will only apply, and only those courts of the “département de Meurthe-et-Moselle” will be allowed to be used.

By participating in the contest, you fully and unconditionally agree to the specific rules, terms an conditions provided for the contest.

Thanks to Angela Baduel-Crispin for sending this along.

“jewel, labyrinth of dreams” by Francesca Gabrielli

The Gallery 105 ART, participates at the famous exhibition of jewellery: Desideri Preziosi
The event will take place in December and will include among the protagonists Francesca Gabrielli director of the gallery itself, and member of the jury of the event. A chance to admire in a large and sumptuous location the creations of an esteemed goldsmith.
The artist will present her latest collection proposing the personal vision of the theme: “jewel, labyrinth of dreams.”
With a series of performances inspired by natural, roughness and asymmetries Gabrielli reveals her particular propensity for abstract and gestural, never falling in trivial, rhetorical or forcibly extravagant.

29 november – 8 december 2008
10.00 – 22.00

Tempio di Adriano
Piazza di Pietra-Roma
http://www.105art.it

Inform Contemporary Jewellery
158 High St
Christchurch, New Zealand
Until Dec 13th, 2008

This year, for the very first time, the group of jewellers working at the Pieces of Eight studio have been exhibiting together. The exhibition was recently held at Sturt Gallery in Mittagong, NSW and has now travelled to Inform Contemporary Jewellery, Christchurch New Zealand where it will open this coming Tues 25th Nov from 5pm. The exhibition comprises various works made by the workshop residents at Melbourne’s Pieces of Eight Gallery; Nina Ellis, Lucy Folk, Rachel Gorman, Melanie Katsalidis, Krista McRae and Suzi Zutic.

The individual methodology of each artist reveals the diversity of their approaches. For Ellis, it is related to the hardy weeds of the Australian landscape; manifested in blackened steel, silver and sprays of colour. Folk, immerses herself in the colour and pleasures that food inspires, creating a range of delights in joyful ways.

Both Gorman and Katsalidis utilise materials in unconventional ways. Gorman employs ceramic, metal and paint to re-create versions of costume jewellery; playful and colourful. While Katsalidis turns to the beautiful nature of organic pearls, particularly black pearls to assert a contemporary vision of modern day glamour.

In the work of McRae and Zutic, a certain romance exists. McRae draws on the sublimeness of shapes; oxidised silver, set with tiny dark blue sapphires that sparkle like stars. Zutic’s ring series (modelled in wax and set with petite gems) have a timeless quality, like they could have been exposed in the uncovering of an ancient roman dig.

Inform gallery hours: Mon to Fri, 10.30 – 5pm and Sat 10.30 – 4pm. Ph +64 3 366 3893

Last bird, 2006. Brooch, silver, paint, onyx, sapphire by Helen Britton

Helen Britton completed a Master of Fine Arts by research at Curtin University, Western Australia in 1999, which included guest studies at the Academy of Fine Art in Munich, the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam, and San Diego State University in California. In 1999 she returned to Munich to complete a postgraduate study project at the Academy of Fine Arts with Professor Otto Künzli. In 2002 she established her workshop in Munich with David Bielander and Yutaca Minegishi. Her work is held in the National gallery of Australia, in the Pinakothek der Modern, Munich, the Schmuck Museum Pforzheim and in the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, among others . In 2005 Helen was awarded the Herbert Hofmann prize for excellence in contemporary jewellery and in 2006 the state prize of Bavaria for craftsmanship. In 2007 Helen Britton was artist in residence in the city of Erfurt, Germany, and in 2008 was invited into Exempla at the International Craft fair in Munich.

Imperishable Beauty: Art Nouveau Jewelry
Through Nov.9, 2008 at the Museum of Fine Arts – Boston MA USA
travels to the Cincinnati Art Museum – Nov. 1, 2009-Feb. 28, 2010

More than 100 pieces will be shown.
The majority of the works, by such recognized masters as René Lalique, George Fouquet, and Louis Comfort Tiffany, are drawn from a private collection representing one of the largest and most important assemblages of Art Nouveau jewelry in the United States. More than half of the pieces have never before been exhibited. Included are such fanciful works as a belt buckle with lily pads and blossoms by Henri Vever and a pendant/brooch with female bust, probably by Louis Aucoc, both of which are from about 1900. A catalog of the exhibit is available

Imperishable Beauty: Art Nouveau Jewelry – Yvonne Markowitz, Elyse Karlin – 2008