Open Call for Montebello - Bergesio Award 2025-26. Contemporary Jewelery and critical writing

Giancarlo Montebello Prize
The jury will award the winner a sum of 2,500 EUR, together with AGC free membership for one year. AGC Free membership for one year is also provided for the two honourable mentions.
The following prize, in the field of contemporary jewelry, is open to students who have created a jewel or a capsule collection (3 pieces of jewelry) with innovative characteristics from the following points of view: conceptual, formal, use of materials with traditional or digital techniques.
Submission Module HERE
*All students who have completed (in the last two years) or are still attending a Programme of Study (Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, Professional Training Course, PhD programme) related to Design, Fashion and Jewelry, who are under 30 years of age, are eligible to participate in the Call.


Maria Cristina Bergesio Prize
The jury will award the winner a sum of 800 EUR, free AGC membership for one year, including the possibility to publish the essay in the Journal of Jewellery Research (JJR).
Free one-year membership to AGC is also provided for the second and third place winners.
The following award is for a critical essay dealing with the most current issues in contemporary jewelry. The proposed essay must be original and must not have been previously published. 
Submission Module HERE
*Theorists and critics of art and jewelry design, teachers, scholars, independent and doctoral researchers are eligible to participate in the Call. There is no age limit.


Award Curators and Jury Board
The Montebello | Bergesio Jury will be selected biannually by the Curators.
The jury will consist of three internationally recognized experts in the field of Contemporary Jewelry. 
For the 2025/2026 edition, the Jury is composed of:
- Lia Lenti
- Barbara Schmidt
- Ellen Maurer Zilioli 
The curators and scientific heads of the project are: Roberta Bernabei, Nichka Marobin and Chiara Scarpitti. 


Entry Submission and Deadline
Each applicant may submit a maximum of 1 entry choosing from the 2 Prizes in the Call.
The entry must be submitted online, in accordance with the application forms.
Submission deadline: by midnight on the 20 July 2025.

Fee
Each entry is subject to an administrative fee of 30.00 EUR.
The payment can be made via PayPal to the following address: mb.award@agc-it.org

Important Dates
- Submission deadline for the online application form by 20 July 2025 by 24.00 (CET);
- Notification of finalists by December 2025;
- Delivery of final works and texts by 1 March 2026;
- Exhibition and award ceremony April 2026.

Selection and Dissemination
Winners will be announced by the end of December 2025 on the official website of the AGC Association and other partner websites of the Project. The award and winners will be promoted through social media. The award ceremony will be held in-person in Spring 2026. 
The culmination of this award will be a physical exhibition of the selected pieces of jewelry and critical texts. 
For the exhibition, alongside the winners, 20 authors will be selected from the Montebello Award and 5 authors from the Bergesio Award.
The ceremony, together with the exhibition of the selected works, will be held at a prestigious venue in Milan, which will be announced in due course. 
An official AGC certificate stating the awards or honourable mentions will be issued.



For additional communication or information: mb.award@agc-it.org
More information HERE