Retrospection

Artist list

Bastard Collection, Alexander Blank, Sungho Cho, Stefan Heuser, Pawel Kaczyński, Christina Karababa, Kyung Jin Kim, Tove Knuts, Akiko Kurihara, Ria Lins, Janjaap Luijt, Judy McCaig, Daniel Michel, Ingrid Römmich, Kacper Schiffers, Nils Schmalenbach, Veronika Schmidt, Islay Taylor, Heike Walk, Jarosław Westermark, Ludmila Šikolová

The collection shows the evolution of the meaning of jewellery – from an elegant decoration to the carrier of coded information. We can look at this collection through the prism of chronology, as well as the issues because many of these works form thematic groups. It contains unique and art jewellery and it consists of objects made by polish goldsmiths and designers, as well as pieces from many jewellery artists from abroad. It contains mostly objects presented during Legnica SILVER Festivals throughout the years, including pieces that have been qualified to International Jewellery Competitions.

The International Jewellery Competitions, organized every year by the Gallery of Art in Legnica, are a testimony to the inclusion of artistic jewelry into the current conceptual and critical art. They illustrate the directions of development of this art over the last two decades and present a variety of phenomena and creative explorations based on the works of artists from almost every part of the world. The most important aspect of the Competition is the main themes referring to current philosophical, social and political issues.

In recent years we have reflected the importance of Rituals (2012), the social and personal justification of Revolt (2013), the canon of the Classic (2014), barriers and transgressions that form Boundaries (2015), the phenomenon of the City (2016), components of cultural Identity (2017) and finally the phenomenon of Illusion in art (2018). - writes Sławomir Fijałkowski in the introduction to last year's competition catalogue accompanying the jubilee edition of the Legnica SILVER Festival.

The dynamic transformations that constantly accompany today's reality, prompt critical creative reflection and are an inexhaustible source of inspiration, and the works submitted every year make us aware of the richness of contexts and interpretative nuances, confronting works made by artists from different cultures and latitudes.