Amberif Design Award 2016 Winners

Transitions challenge us with a momentum of delay and doubt. We are not secure in this phase when old answers do not fit anymore and new answers are not found yet. Sometimes we miss out this short period - when everything is still in pending and we would be empowered to set the frame freshly.
 
The Amberif Fair and their organisers offered this precious space with the 20th edition of their Amberif Design Award contemporary jewellery contest.

75 artists from 17 countries followed the invitation. They made use of this space and filled it with their proposals. For the international Jury this broad variety opened the stage for a wide consideration and deep discussion.
 
Coming from various backgrounds the experts enjoyed a free exchange of diverse points of view. Nevertheless the jury came to unanimous decisions about quality and intensity. They selected contemporary answers in the language of jewellery to the timeless questions transitions demand from us. /Barbara Schmidt, Curator


The veredict of the jury of the Amberif Design Award 2016:

The Jury:

Ms. Heidemarie Herb – Germany/Italy                                                                              
Ms. Danuta Czapnik – Poland                                   
Ms. Adriana Lisowska – Poland                               
Mr. Nicolas Estrada – Colombia/Spain 

Mr. Nicolas Estrada was selected Chairman of the Jury.

The Jury awarded the following prizes:
 
The Grand Prize:
sponsored by Mr Paweł Adamowicz, the Mayor of the City of Gdańsk PLN 10,000:
Jolanta Kupniewska, Warsaw, Poland
A reversal of materials, where gold is set in amber. A clash of a raw amber nugget with a rough-hewn gilded piece of silver. Characteristic transition from the transparent to the opaque in combination with an interesting architectural form.
 
The Amber Prize:
sponsored by the International Amber Association 1 kg of amber:
Jelizaveta Suska, Mölndal, Sweden/Latvia
The jury liked how the patinas transition into amber and the copper holds the amber. The texture of the crust of the copper melts into the texture of the crust of the amber.
 
The Silver Prize:
1 kg of silver sponsored by the KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. 1 kg of silver:
Kinga Sulej, Dłutów, Polska
Very organic, like a lichen. There is a transition of the blue into yellow-green amber. From soft texture into harsh, broken, aggressive edges.

The Jury decided to award three honorary mentions to the entries which best evoke what the topic of TRANSITION brings to mind:
 
Kim Ji Young, Tanhyeon, South Korea
Excellent creative process as transition.
 
Emilia Kohut-Jeż, Gdynia, Poland
Colours, form, material and amber fixed in a harmonious way. Artificial resin transitions into natural amber.
  
Agnieszka Grupa, Karolina Matea, Gdańsk, Polska
A strong expression of transition with great sensibility. As if it were created by nature not by a human being.

The Jury selected 15 further works by the following artists for publication in the AMBERIF 2016 Fair Catalogue and for display at the exhibition:
 
Nartowska Agata, Częstochowa, Poland
Susanne Elstner, Grafefing, Germany
Anna Ogińska, Ksawerów, Poland
Jelizaveta Suska, Mölndal, Sweden/Latvia
Agnieszka Grupa, Karolina Matea, Gdańsk, Poland
Amelie Spitz, Idar-Oberstein, Germany
Elena Gorbunova, Barcelona, Spain
Piotr Dyndul, Pępowo, Poland
Daniela Massa, Imperia, Italy
Piotr Białek, Warszawa, Poland
Kairi Sirendi, Luunja, Estonia
Milena Stelmasiak, Bydgoszcz, Poland
Marta Flisykowska, Gdańsk, Poland
Edgar Mosa, Nowy Jork, USA
Lidia Karpacz, Lublin, Poland