Munich Insights: Artwork and Commerce

Schmuck—or Munich Jewelry Week, relying on who you ask—is a pilgrimage, a market, a reunion, or a reckoning. Annually in March, Munich turns into a short lived capital of up to date jewellery—per week when makers, gallerists, curators, collectors, and critics inhabit the identical rooms, the identical openings, the identical conversations. The essays gathered right here emerged from that week. Written from 4 distinct vantage factors—by critics, curators, educators, and working towards artists—they don’t arrive on the similar conclusions. However they share a preoccupation with a query that hung over Munich Jewelry Week 2026: what does it imply to promote, and what does it price to not?

Commerce just isn’t a cushty phrase in up to date jewellery. The sector has lengthy outlined itself in opposition to the ornamental, the business, the merely fairly—and but galleries are closing, collectors are scarce, and the stress to make work that sells is reshaping what will get made. These essays take that stress severely, tracing it via pupil exhibitions and studio visits, via earring installations and handmade iron rings pulled from a coat pocket, via packed vitrines and punctiliously emptied ones.

“Artwork and Commerce” is a part of a collection of essay collections responding to Schmuck and Munich Jewelry Week 2026. Modern jewellery resists tidy summaries. The sort of sustained, skeptical consideration these writers carry to it’s precisely what the sphere deserves. —Aaron Decker

By isabel wang pontoppidan
By the doubtful lens of “artwork and commerce,” I hope to glean some which means from a short evaluation of two exhibitions: the worldwide pupil pop-up summit on the Pinakothek and the Central Saint Martins (CSM) exhibition TEN, at Vitsœ. Each present pupil work, each are anniversary occasions, each left me feeling deeply ambiguous.

Let’s start with the elephant within the room: the night extravaganza on the Pinakothek der Moderne. It was was orchestrated within the introduction of celebrating 100 years of Die Neue Sammlung and the 30-year anniversary of the inception of its jewellery assortment. As a substitute of showcasing a monographic exhibition centered on the oeuvre of a longtime jewellery artist, as is normally the case, the museum invited college students from 40+ establishments in 24 totally different nations to placed on an exhibition for one evening, full with dwell music and gargantuan truffles.

In myself and my colleagues, I sensed a shared confusion on the lack of transparency from the museum. As a result of it was titled “1st Summit of Jewellery Courses,” I ponder whether it is a phenomenon that’s right here to remain. Whereas I used to be excited on the concept of platforming the work of scholars, the lack of the annual monographic exhibition would imply the dissolution of (at the very least) two issues: (1) a momentous milestone within the profession of an artwork jeweler, vital not only for its highlight on an artist’s work, but in addition its aspirational high quality in a precarious subject, and (2) at a variegated occasion similar to Munich Jewelry Week, the exhibition opening is a crucial level of confluence, gathering virtually your complete subject.

For the reason that motive for this occasion (whether or not it was a singular prevalence or would be the new establishment) was not publicly introduced, we are able to solely speculate on the museum’s motivations. Die Neue Sammlung is, regardless of being state-funded, a business enterprise. As all establishments, they take into account their numbers: guests, entrance tickets, and many others. The truth that they had been unwilling to spend money on the standard exhibition this yr, with all of its accoutrements (vitrines, exhibition texts and design, curation, printed catalogs) may point out a scarcity of artwork jewellery’s business viability from the museum’s standpoint. On this context, the indiscriminate recruiting of lots of of scholars accountable not only for offering the artworks, taking good care of their presentation, and entertaining the crowds circulating within the rotunda, but in addition attending to Munich and staying there for a number of days, feels at greatest like a neglectful perspective towards the scholars. At worst, it could seem to be the museum is utilizing them to outsource labor and infrastructural sources.

Across the nook from the Pinakothek, the exhibition TEN, by CSM college students, employees, and visitors was on show in Vitsœ. It marked the 10-year anniversary of CSM’s BA Jewelry Design course collaborating with the Vitsœ area in Munich. As I traversed the crowded opening, it appeared to me that each different artist exhibited was a tutor or visitor lecturer, leaving solely half the exhibition area for college students and alumni. The selection to incorporate so many “visitors” offers me pause. I might assume that the exhibition of an establishment like CSM, which is made up primarily of scholars and a handful of contracted employees, can be curated in a manner that displays its demographic. Once more, this exhibition is marked by a scarcity of transparency. Are the curatorial selections made in accordance with illustration of the establishment, or in accordance with desirous to exhibit as many well-known artists as attainable?

After all, it’s lower than me to set the qualifiers for what marks a big contribution to this establishment, nor to resolve how its exhibition must be curated. I’m merely posing these inquiries to probe at a bigger difficulty. It appears that evidently we are able to use the presence (or absence) of pupil work as an indicator of what’s deemed commercially (non)viable. On the Pinakothek, the scholars present a cheap resolution to the void of the funding on this yr’s monographic exhibition. At Vitsœ, the quantity of labor by college students and alumni is restricted in favor of exhibiting established artists. This sycophantic curation shouldn’t be considered in a vacuum; up to date artwork jewellery is certainly not the one subject by which curation turns into a recreation to gather probably the most star-studded exhibition solid.

This tendency tells us a lot in regards to the ossifying results of status and finally worth in artwork. However for a subject by which gross sales are down, collectors are scarce, and galleries are closing, we can not afford to foreclose the horizon on this manner. We can not afford for college students to be sidelined by the very academies which might be imagined to assist them, nor to make use of them as patchwork interjections when sources are scarce. To regurgitate the identical work time and again and to incorporate sure folks for the sake of being adorned with their names is not going to improve dynamism within the subject. It is going to solely decelerate our metabolic fee till it ceases to operate. ■

By Elena Karpilova
It’s attention-grabbing to contemplate the worth ranges one encounters in Munich—and the way otherwise the notion of “affordability” is perceived.

Since 2009, Katja Schlegel has introduced jewellery exhibitions throughout Munich Jewellery Week. This yr, her present was titled Inexpensive. However what does “inexpensive” imply right now? On this case, it referred fairly concretely to cost: all works had been capped at €490. On the similar time, the exhibition featured established names similar to Ela Bauer, Sofia Björkman, and Karin Seufert. Based on Schlegel, the exhibition was a transparent success, attracting many guests and producing robust gross sales.

It appears that evidently Earrings Galore’s exhibition technique performs a key position in interesting to consumers. First, the show format stays constant yr after yr, making a recognizable id: earrings are proven individually on silhouettes (one is modeled after Michelle Obama). Second, the idea is straight away clear—earrings solely. Third, the visible impact is extremely seductive: the show resembles a sweet store, with a vibrant array of colourful items drawing guests in. This yr, the venture introduced 253 pairs of earrings, priced from beneath $50 to over $2,500, making it accessible throughout a variety of budgets. Roughly 15% of the works bought, which organizer Heidi Lowe considers successful.

Not everybody views accessibility as an unqualified good. Takayoshi Terajima, curator of Brooch by CJST and winner of the 2024 Herbert Hofmann Prize, factors to its downsides. Having exhibited in Munich for over a decade, he describes the present market as extraordinarily difficult. Up to now, collectors actively supported artists and their practices, however such encounters have develop into more and more uncommon. Though Terajima bought a number of works this yr, all had been priced beneath €500 (retail). What considerations him most is the rising stress to supply “sellable” jewellery. As materials and power prices rise, artists are pressured to maintain their work “inexpensive” in an effort to promote. On this manner, up to date jewellery dangers shifting from inventive expression towards a subject formed primarily by buyer preferences and market calls for.

Probably the most “inexpensive” object I encountered—in an easy and unproblematic sense—price simply €10. On the Messe, I got here throughout the sales space of the Vocational School for Design, Jewellery, and On a regular basis Objects (Berufskolleg für Design, Schmuck und Gerät) on the Goldsmith Faculty in Pforzheim, the world’s oldest vocational faculty of its sort, one over 250 years outdated. It was not merely an exhibition however an lively workshop: instruments for sandcasting, college students at work, the method unfolding in actual time. A field stuffed with small plastic objects—animal collectible figurines, geometric shapes, even toy components from Kinder Shock eggs—sat alongside a handwritten signal studying “10 euros.” Guests may select an object. College students would then solid it in silver, brass, or copper over the course of a number of hours, refining their abilities as they labored. I left with a small croissant-shaped piece, whereas Marta Costa Reis walked away with a solid of a part of a finger. ■

By Steven KP
To say that the present traits of the markets had been felt in Munich this yr can be a delicate assertion. Jewellery like ours, that resists the dependency of commodities-market supplies and high quality gems, is all the time a precarious place of commerce—however is in that uncertainty that a variety of its potentials, excitements, and issues come up. It all the time stunned me how speedy the stress of promoting works felt throughout Schmuck and Munich Jewellery Week, and that is most instantly obvious on the Worldwide Handwerksmesse and the galleries and exhibitions current throughout the truthful’s cubicles.

The context of the Messe’s cubicles locations artwork jewellery into dialogue with hand crafts, style, and materials business in a sprawling conference middle.

As an exhibiting and promoting artist, my pleasure for potential inspiration and shock on the truthful is all the time tempered by my concern that my monetary livelihood is supported via my work discovering a house, and I’m all the time reaffirmed when my work will get to dwell with an individual who will look after it—particularly if I get to satisfy them in individual on the truthful. The emphasis on gross sales requires galleries to indicate broad ranges of labor proven salon-style to greatest seize the wide selection of potential consumers. Flanking the hallmark Schmuck exhibition, there have been distinctly robust showings from a number of galleries together with Montreal-based Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h, Stockholm-based Platina, and the Beijing-based The Nearer Gallery.

Artwork jewellery has all the time had a tenuous standing throughout the market, and issues are altering. The traditional collector base has shifted, the reliance on a number of massive names has restricted the expansion of youthful rising voices, and the fashions that served by default may have rethinking. However artwork jewellery’s resistance to standard market constructions may be its independence as markets collapse. Regardless of the conservative accumulating that occurred at Munich and certainly has been taking place throughout all markets—artwork and in any other case—there have been particular moments of pleasure and way more direct connection by means of extra clandestine gross sales and conversations.

One instance of those much less standard alternatives arose on the Pinakothek der Moderne’s annual gathering on Friday evening when Sami artist Janne Peltokangas reached into their coat pocket and opened a sunglass case stuffed with hand-forged iron rings. The conversational ambiance amongst artists and the mutual respect allowed for an alternate that felt way more nourishing than transactional, and that’s what I search for at these occasions. Moments of connection, appreciation, and a brand new, higher understanding that could be very laborious to attain with the pretext of a monetary transaction. Peltokangas’s rings are every distinctive with their folds and match, and the chance to speak with the artist and check out every ring on from its zippered container and foam allowed for a deeper stage of connection than any standard area may have supplied.

One other of those moments got here within the type of an invite from artist Erin Michelle Cox, who’s at present enterprise a PhD in Oslo. Cox invited me (and others) on the sidewalk outdoors of a gallery to take part in a examine, buy a small pin, and conform to ongoing conversations round carrying and residing with the work. These small iron and bronze pins had been exceptionally inexpensive however nonetheless required an alternate of cash for the dedication. I’m invested in the place the dialog will go subsequent.

These strategies are nothing new, however they’re perennially efficient. Whereas we are able to hope that markets persist, that collectors proceed to gather regardless of the shifts in how funding constructions and values have occurred, we are able to depend on artists supporting artists, in probably the most micro and macro methods. These had been exchanges, and whereas smaller in financial achieve, way more reciprocal than transactional.

Perhaps it’s romantic considering that these different pathways are richer and extra reciprocal than any market-driven response, however sensible considering is what has led us to the place we’re. ■

By Anneleen Swillen
“We’ve executed one thing totally different this yr,” Thereza Pedrosa tells me. Having not too long ago proven Peter Bauhuis at Pedrosa Gallery, the query arose whether or not to carry the exhibition to MJW. As a substitute, they organized an occasion at Bauhuis’s studio.

Two intentions guided the venture. First, context: the studio as a big body for the work. Second, viewers: round 20 folks had been invited personally, all visitors Pedroza felt would contribute to the dialog.

The distinction with typical MJW conduct was very a lot on her thoughts. Usually, guests are available, go searching with their telephones, and depart, she says, ticking off as many exhibitions as attainable. She wished to push again in opposition to that, inviting folks to commit for a number of hours. An try and genuinely get to know the artist’s work. To look fastidiously, to attempt to perceive, to speak to one another.

Writing about an occasion I didn’t attend feels slightly precarious. But our dialog stayed with me. And whereas the mannequin just isn’t new (at its core, it’s a studio go to), I had the sense there may be one thing to study on the subject of commerce in up to date jewellery.

Exclusivity is each the occasion’s power and its threat. A fastidiously curated visitor record certainly creates circumstances for significant encounter. Nevertheless it additionally raises questions on accessibility and variety: whose voices are within the room, and whose are absent from the dialog?

Moreover, getting nearer to a maker, a observe, a piece can contribute to schooling inside, and past, the sphere. Whereas this occasion’s visitors aren’t unfamiliar with up to date jewellery, however professionals already working inside it, a deepened understanding from their facet may discover its option to different audiences as nicely.

Lastly, how may an occasion like this result in promoting work, immediately or not directly? Offering context for an artist’s work, creating area for his or her observe, and initiating connections are genuinely precious objectives that may additionally, over time, generate gross sales. This ties right into a recurring, and essential, query: what are the roles and duties of a gallerist? By this venture, Pedrosa holds a number of collectively: (re)presentation, context-building, discourse. As a mediator, she brings artists into contact with one another, in addition to writers, collectors, educators, and curators, whose engagement may lead not solely to gross sales however to collaborations like exhibitions and publications. MJW, the place folks from internationally briefly assemble, presents a very fertile context for such encounters.

There’s a tendency within the subject to cram as many items as attainable onto a small floor. A drawer, a vitrine, a pedestal. It speaks to an eagerness, and a deep engagement, to indicate, and, hopefully, to promote. Maybe someplace in that impulse, there may be additionally an nervousness of not being seen and never being taken severely.

Presentation just isn’t solely in regards to the items, but in addition in regards to the area in between. House doesn’t have to be crammed. Items want room.

Some handle abundance nicely. Galerie Door, for instance, with Mirror Mirror … Massive tables slicing diagonally via the area, a various unfold of bijou, and an up-front invitation to attempt items on or ask questions. Handwritten information, together with costs, on masking tape on the tables’ edges. Easy and assured. Proudly framing the items, and the business actuality they’re a part of. Look, right here. The sector would profit from extra openness.

Following MJW, I stored enthusiastic about the direct/oblique angle with regard to commerce within the up to date jewellery subject. To not resolve which is healthier, as these seemingly opposed methods open numerous instructions.

Talking with exhibitors about their strategy to commerce got here with some hesitation, I noticed. Rereading AJF’s Schmuck 13 in Perspective (right here),  I seen an identical unease across the topic.

What counts seems to be totally different relying on the place you’re standing. For some, the precedence is encounter, analysis, or schooling. For others: did the work promote? Offering context, contributing to discourse, and promoting work are all important for the sphere to maneuver ahead.

The query, then, of learn how to weave these collectively is value reflecting on. And MJW, the place many various fashions and motivations converge, is nearly as good a spot as any to maintain exploring it. ■

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

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