In a vibrant celebration of artistic diversity and innovation, SCHMUCK 2024, curated by Norman Weber, promises to be a landmark event in the world of contemporary jewelery. Norman Weber, has selected 60 exceptional works by artists from 30 countries from a total of over 600 entries.

In the following interview, Norman Weber he shares insights into the selection process and talks about the fascinating diversity and creativity of the works submitted: 

What did a work have to bring to the table to ultimately be selected?

I was totally impressed by the incredible diversity and creativity that characterizes the international scene of author jewelery. One very important aspect is that you judge on the basis of photos. Therefore: what do I read into the objects from the pictures and what is there really in the end? And that is entirely up to the original object. I initially opted for the perspective of the jewelery maker with a keen interest in the work of his fellow artists. The second criterium was wearability. And a third aspect of my selection was that I wanted to consider the diversity and variety of artistic approaches as well as the artists’ backgrounds.

And overall, after having viewed 2,700 photos, where will author’s jewelery be in 2024?

Norman Weber: I had the impression that many of the works were realized with great care and mindfulness – despite the very different techniques employed, which for instance, ranged from sewing needles to AI. At least that’s what the photos reflected, and I find that exciting.

Do craft skills still play a role in jewelery making?

Norman Weber: What I find important is that the perception and contextualization of jewelery is in fact always determined by form, colour and surface quality. The objects are read and interpreted by the viewer, irrespective of the techniques used to make them.