A dialogue between past and present
For its 23rd edition, on 16 and 17 May, the International Contemporary Jewellery Fair AUTOR finds a new context: the Lapidarium of the National Museum of Romanian History.
It is more than a change of location.
It is an encounter.
For the first time in the fair’s 17-year history, contemporary jewellery, as it is conceived today by artists from around the world, approaches historical jewellery with care. Not to oppose it, but to continue it in a different language.
Within the same space, on the same level, stands the Romanian Treasure, a bearer of old narratives, of forms shaped by time and memory. Alongside it, contemporary creation finds its natural place, as an extension of the same need for expression.
Around it, the Lapidarium adds an essential layer: a space that brings together inscriptions, monuments and representations linked to communities, historical figures, deities and funerary practices.
Here too stands the life-size replica of Trajan’s Column, an important reference point within the wider historical and artistic heritage.
This proximity creates a rare moment: a quiet dialogue between what has been and what is, between the gestures of the past and the sensibility of the present. A contrast that does not divide, but brings closer, opening a space for reflection and curiosity.
AUTOR 2026 brings together 70 Romanian and international artists from over 20 countries, in a selection that speaks to the diversity and vitality of contemporary jewellery today.
This year’s edition presents:
– collections premiered for the first time, developed specifically for this context
– new names, arriving in Bucharest for the first time
– alongside established artists who continue to define the field
Within this setting, jewellery is no longer just an object.
It becomes a form of presence.
A bridge between body and memory.
Between material and thought.
Between what we preserve and what we choose to become.
AUTOR enters a space of substance.
And contemporary jewellery finds its place within a living dialogue that belongs neither solely to the past nor the present, but to both at once.
AUTOR – The International Contemporary Jewellery Fair once again opens its doors and announces its 23rd edition, scheduled for 16–17 May 2026 at the National Museum of Romanian History (MNIR). This return reasserts a territory where jewellery functions as a language. Come and discover new territory in contemporary jewelry.
Save the date.
16-17 May
Saturday and Sunday between 10.00 – 19.00
National Museum of Romanian History
