The Jewellery & Object team travelled to Munich this year to see the world’s most important contemporary jewellery event: SCHMUCK

Between the 6th and 12^th of March, jewellery lovers, students, museum curators and collectors from around the world descended on Munich to see SCHMUCK. This exhibition, a part of the Handwerk & Design show at the Internationale Handwerksmesse, is regarded as the premier event in its field. Over 250 exhibits by 58 jewellers from 18 different countries were on display, fuelling its longstanding reputation as a cradle for new styles and directions. Its importance is also reflected in the ever-growing number of satellite events, which this year amounted to 60 previewing across the city, turning Munich into a true carnival of contemporary art jewellery.

“For me Munich allowed me to see such a big variety of jewellery and also meet the designers which was brilliant. I also looked at why I did and didn’t like a piece of jewellery. This has made me think about what I want to do when I finish the course.” (Stephanie Egan, Yr 1)

The range of work was as extraordinary as were the different materials used. A particularly vibrant show, Conspiración, was held at the Cervantes Institute, featuring work by the Escola Massana from Barcelona and EASD from València. Not only was the jewellery inspirational but also the display was equally ingenious. Brooches placed onto life-size black and white portrait photographs of every day people, came alive making sense of their wearability: “I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, be disillusioned or inspired. It made me realise we weren’t doing enough. Nowhere near enough.” (Caroline Draper, Yr 2)

A wall installation by Nanna Melland of hundreds of aluminium planes invited the public to buy one and place the money in a box. “The trust behind it was incredible. The satellite events made the trip really interesting. We visited 20 galleries besides Schmuck itself.” (Kat Downs, Yr 3)

Students were captivated by the imagination of Akiko Kurihara whose necklace in the shape of the letter ‘g’ weighed precisely 1 gram. Also by her wall nails with roots: “I liked the thought behind it. She found a nail on a wall, tried to pull it out but couldn’t and imagined it to have roots.” (Kat Downs, Yr 3)

Schmuck and its surrounding events are a visual challenge for most, but for first time visitors it is a mind-blowing experience. From the great Otto Künzli retrospective at the Pinakothek der Moderne und Schaustelle, to Plateaus, the more modest exhibition in an attic by postgraduates from Idar-Oberstein, students felt welcomed and found the inclusive attitude and energy motivating and inspiring.  “It’s also about how the work is finished and how it isn’t.” (Caroline Draper, Yr 2)

After the Internationale Handwerksmesse, SCHMUCK will be setting off on tour. In 2013, it will be stopping off in the town of Legnica in Poland, where visitors can admire the pieces as part of the International Jewellery Competition in May 2013.

“Schmuck is definitely something I am thinking about going to again in years to come.” (Stephanie Egan, Yr 1)