Jewellery: Making Art with Body Matter (20th–21st centuries)

By bringing together PhD students and researchers from a range of disciplines, artists and jewellery professionals, the aim is to shed light on this multifaceted object, which remains under-researched in France.

One of the current issues that this scientific event aims to address is the need to establish a global field of research that enables jewellery to be understood as a coherent subject of study. Through the six panel discussions scheduled over these two study days, speakers are invited to examine the common definition of jewellery – as part of the ‘cultures of appearance’ [cultures des apparences] – by approaching it through the lens of the body and its materiality.

The symposium is bilingual, in French and English. The language of each presentation is indicated by its title.
The event is accessible in person by registration (subject to availability: 100 places) or online. 

Book your spot using the registration links below for the in-person sessions:
- 20 October: 
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSesjSvlCs-3u6FexlRdlUAQJrWd3a2P6n70Dh6oegvdz1YQTQ/viewform?usp=header
- 21 October: 
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9n_JuOb_JsBEV5ybji32VJ6ZQ4C_-wMtg_JlqZUSGSqihLQ/viewform?usp=header

For those wishing to attend the conferences online, the access link will be published ahead of the event on the symposium page of the Sartoria Association’s website. No registration will be required.


Programme:  20–21 October 2026. 9 am–6 pm
Please note that the schedule and session order are still provisional and may be adjusted.

Tuesday, October 20, 2026 
09:30 -- Introduction: Zoé Kiner-Wolff (Sartoria association), PhD candidate in Art History (University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, ED 441/HiCSA, France)

Session 1 – Jewellery studies: a multidisciplinary approach

10:00 -- Elsa Dos Santos, Phd candidate in Art History (Paris Nanterre University, HAR, France).
Le bijou contemporain à l’épreuve de la corporéité : analyse de l’exposition Sculpture pour un corps (1983-1984)

10:30 -- Dr. Jonathan Boyd, Head of Applied Art at the Royal College of Art (Jewellery and Metal MA and Ceramics and Glass MA), London (UK).
On Jewellery and Meaning: Outlining a New Type of ‘Jewellery-thinking’

11:00 -- Dr. Nichka Marobin, Italian art historian specialising in Dutch and Flemish art history in independent curator, who graduated from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Padua (Italy).
 FORMS DWELLING IN POSSIBILITY. A study on the life of forms: the “Métissages” between fashion and contemporary jewellery 


Session 2 – Jewellery: body ornament and cultures of appearance

13:30 -- Samira Oulaillah, PhD candidate in art history (University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, ED 441/HiCSA, France).
Le bijou mis en corps : parure, photographie de studio et féminités statuesques en Afrique de l’Ouest (1945–1990)

14:00 -- Dr Fernando Ligue Engamba, PhD in Archaeology and Heritage Studies (University of Ngaoundéré, Cameroon).
Perles et mémoire du corps : les bijoux de l’Est-Cameroun comme patrimoine de résistance et d’identité


Session 3: Making with the body: a material study of jewellery

15:30 -- Saskia van Es, art historian, lecturer (theory and history of jewellery) at Sint Lucas Antwerpen.
The oppression of Chthonic forces in jewellery

16:00 -- Dr Annarita Bianco, PhD candidate in Design for Made (University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Italy).
We Are Soil: contemporary jewellery, trans-corporeality and the political

17:00 -- Roundtable: Making art with body remains
Moderator: Zoé Kiner-Wolff (Sartoria association), PhD candidate in Art History (University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, ED 441/HiCSA, France)
- Emmanuel Lacoste, jewellery artist, who graduated from AFEDAP (Paris, France).
- Helena Renner, Jewellery artist, HochSchule Trier University of Applied Sciences (campus d’Idar-Oberstein, Rhénanie-Palatinat, Allemagne).
- Carla Castiajo, jewellery artist and lecturer (Lusófona University of Porto, Portugal).



Wednesday, October 21, 2026
10:00 -- Introduction: Diana Plachendovskaya, PhD candidate in art history (EHESS, France).

Session 4 – Jewellery as Embodiment: A Socio-Material Approach to Ornament

10:30 -- Dr. Roberta Bernabei, Associate Research Fellow and Director of the PhD Programme of the School of Art and Design (Loughborough University, UK) ; and deputy Chair of the Association of Contemporary Jewellery in Italy & Dr Maria Maclennan, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) (Teaching and Research) in Jewellery and Silversmithing at Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh.
Exploration Through Matter: Socio Material Enquiry in Forensic and Well Being Jewellery Practices.

11:00 -- Helen McCormack, Reader in Art and Design History at The Glasgow School of Art (UK) & Silvia Weidenbach, lecturer in Silversmithing & Jewellery at The Glasgow School of Art and a visiting lecturer at HEAD Haute École d’art et de Design Genève, and at the London College of Fashion.
Performing post-digital ornament: matter and meaning in jewellery objects through AI, AR and VR technologies


Session 5 – Physicality of the object: between materiality and identity

13:30 -- Mariambibi Khan, lecturer in the Creative Jewellery and Metal Design Division at Stellenbosch University (South Africa).
Contemporary Jewellery: Material Engagements with Identity in South Africa, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia

14:00 -- Marion Mouchard, PhD candidate in art history, (Paris IV Sorbonne University, France).
Parer le corps “à l’antique” : la référence archéologique comme vecteur d’une nouvelle corporéité (1952-1972)

14:30 -- Dr. Anaëlle Gobinet-Choukroun, PhD in Art History (University of Strasbourg, France), Research Fellow at the École des Arts Joailliers (Paris).
Le bijou non précieux dans les collections Chanel et Schiaparelli 


Session 6 – Body Jewellery: in relation to the body and wearability

16:00 -- Dr Lucileee Bach, PhD in Art History (University of Paris IV Sorbonne, France.
Le bijou ou les conditions de son port qui l’active

16:30 -- Anna Wójcik-Korbas, Master’s degree in Art History at the University of Wrocław (Poland).
Carrying the Message: The Agency of Jewellery Between Body, Wearer, and Viewer

17:30 -- Conclusion: Maialen Salcedo Berrueta (President of Sartoria association), PhD candidate in Art History (University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, ED 441/HiCSA, France)


Symposium organised by Zoé Kiner-Wolff with Sartoria association, with the support of Dr. Pascal Rousseau.