SchmuckDenken 6 - Thinking Jewellery

On the way to developing a theory of jewellery Schmuck-Denken is an attempt to reflect on what jewellery is. It concerns an interdisciplinary approach which extends beyond the respective categories of art or craft, applied or free: the exploration of what jewellery means – not what it looks like. In 2005 ethnologists, philosophers, cultural and natural scientists participated in an interdisciplinary discourse, in order to develop initial lines of thought. In 2006 the approach was more concerned with analysing the works and activities of conceptual jewellery artists, such as Astfalck, Mackert or Nisslmüller, and in 2007 the multi-layered relationship between beauty and uniformity was persued. A debate about the importance of ornamentation for jewellery ensued in 2008. ‘Schmuck- Denken 2009’ concentrated on jewellery as an object.

This year the 6th colloquium deals with the all-embracing tendencies towards globalization, which operate at every level – economic, political and cultural. The focus is on the cultural and artistic global interdependencies of the past and present and also considers their effects on jewellery. In the process, the theme will be exemplified in detail, taking art in the Islamic world as an example. ‘Schmuck-Denken’ will be continued as part of the Idar-Obersteiner FormDiskurs 2011.

Wilhelm Lindemann, Curator, City of Idar-Oberstein