Filtering the Essence of the Modern Jewellery World

The annual Schmuck particular present in Munich is presumably crucial exhibition on the planet for up to date jewellery. Anybody can apply with latest work, and a unique juror annually selects 60-odd items utilizing any standards. The competitors attracted a document variety of submissions for 2026. Norman Weber, who’s German, served because the juror in 2024. Right here, he interviews this 12 months’s juror, Sam Tho Duong, who’s Vietnamese/German.

All photographs proven under characteristic work of AJF members or AJF writers chosen for this 12 months’s Schmuck exhibition.

Norman Weber: You’ve been accustomed to Munich’s jewellery week, and particularly the particular exhibition Schmuck, for years as an artist. How did it really feel to modify views and abruptly carry the duty of filtering the essence of the present jewellery world from over 1,000 submissions?

Sam Tho Duong: At the start, it was a fantastic shock and an enormous honor for me. I agreed instantly, with out overthinking the immense duty concerned. This 12 months, an unimaginable 1,046 submissions have been registered. It was positively a problem, however one which introduced me quite a lot of pleasure.

The choice course of is initially based mostly on photographs. How troublesome was it so that you can decide the tactile high quality and three-dimensionality of the items by way of pictures alone?

Sam Tho Duong: To be sincere, it wasn’t troublesome for me to think about the works in three dimensions. One is used to taking a look at jewellery and objects in catalogs or specialist literature and nonetheless with the ability to type a psychological picture of the bodily piece. What I definitely missed, nonetheless, was the precise act of touching the jewellery.

Out of an unimaginable variety of functions, between 60 and 70 have to be chosen inside simply two days. Trying again, was there a “frequent thread” or a selected intestine feeling that guided your choice of artists for 2026?

Sam Tho Duong: I wouldn’t wish to name it a standard thread. It was extra of a intestine feeling relating to the artists’ ability. Relying on the fabric, approach, or idea, I selected what I thought-about to be probably the most fascinating works. I didn’t choose items that I had already seen in comparable designs in earlier years at Schmuck, even when that was painful at occasions.

The functions are really worldwide. Whereas reviewing the work, did you discover any particular regional tendencies or international themes at present shifting the jewellery world?

Sam Tho Duong: Not essentially. There have been a couple of submissions with political statements. Upcycling or using waste merchandise and located objects in jewellery design are frequent right now and don’t characterize a brand-new development. I really anticipated extra works based mostly on AI or 3D printing, however I used to be all of the extra happy that the submitted jewellery was, virtually with out exception, based mostly on high-quality craftsmanship. I used to be additionally struck by the massive variety of entries from Asia and the US, which highlights the worldwide significance of Schmuck.

We’re at present experiencing a time of large international upheaval. Whereas reviewing the entries, did you’re feeling that artists are more and more utilizing the physique as a stage for political protest and social debate, or does up to date jewellery nonetheless primarily function an aesthetic sanctuary?

Sam Tho Duong: As talked about earlier than, there have been only some political statements. Jewellery, it appears, continues to be supposed primarily to adorn. Designers—and certain potential consumers as nicely—appear to be primarily involved with aesthetics and the enjoyment of carrying the piece.

In your individual work, you employ on a regular basis supplies similar to plastic cups or rest room paper on equal footing with conventional ones like silver, enamel, and pearls. Did you sense an inclination within the choice that materials is more and more getting used as a medium for a private assertion? To what extent did the seek for “materials that means” information your determination?

Sam Tho Duong: As you talked about, I take pleasure in working with a wide range of supplies, whether or not treasured or nonprecious. For my choice, creative ability, the originality of the piece, and its total charisma have been decisive; the first focus was not on the fabric itself.

You say of your work that failures typically open up new horizons. Did you uncover works the place you notably felt this spirit of experimentation and “pleased accident”?

Sam Tho Duong: I may think about the spirit of experimentation in lots of the submissions. However after all I couldn’t decide whether or not a chunk had been the results of a “failed try” or not. In the long run, we solely see a completed, well-crafted piece of jewellery.

In your work, natural type and guide execution type an inseparable unit. Against this, CAD and 3D printing allow geometries which might be virtually inconceivable to appreciate manually however typically make a radical leap. How do you assess the potential and limits of digital instruments for creative expression in up to date jewellery?

Sam Tho Duong: Now we have to maneuver with the occasions, whether or not we prefer it or not. The potential of those new methods is definitely breathtaking, however jewellery design is and stays a craft. If one is simply in a position to produce a chunk of jewellery with the assistance of AI and CAD/3D printing, then one has not mastered the artwork of workmanship.

When guests stand in entrance of the showcases in Munich in 2026, what’s the one thought or feeling they’ll ideally take residence with them?

I hope that my choice brings pleasure to the guests and evokes them to go to different exhibitions or—within the case of the youthful era—awakens an curiosity in our lovely career.

Thanks very a lot for taking the time to reply these questions!

The opinions said right here don’t essentially categorical these of AJF.

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