Open Call for the Venice Design Week Jewelry Selection 2026. Exploring the Concept of Peace

The open call invites designers to give form, through design, to the growing desire for peace in a time marked by fragility. Peace is described not as a definitive state, but as a precarious balance, a tension, and an ongoing process. Peace emerges as a fragile condition that can take intimate or collective forms, appearing temporary, imperfect, and even contradictory, yet always necessary. Contemporary jewellery design challenges designers to investigate this theme beyond representation, transforming it into an open question and a field of research through which dominant narratives can be questioned.

In this context, jewellery ceases to be a simple ornament and becomes a critical device, a tool for listening, reflection, and taking a position.

The selection excludes the use of slogans, simplistic symbols, and reassuring imagery that reduce the complexity of the concept, such as doves or olive branches. The exhibited projects are expected to explore the multiple meanings and symbolisms associated with peace, both on a collective and personal level.

The 2026 exhibition will be measured against the previous exhibitions held at Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro in 2024 and 2025, both internationally reviewed. Previous award ceremonies took place in the Music Hall of Palazzo Sagredo. Participation offers designers from numerous countries the opportunity to engage in an exhibition with an international scope. Contemporary jewellery continues to prove itself a niche capable of engaging a broad audience, including younger generations and art enthusiasts.
The works will be evaluated by a jury composed of Roberto Zanon, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice; Maria Rosa Franzin representing AGC; expert Valeria Accornero; collector Marianna Serandrei; and the Venice Design Week committee. The project is coordinated by Lisa Balasso, Eleonora Varotto, and Camilla Fabretti.

Deadline: June 11, 2026

Competition theme:
“Peace” is a tension, a delicate balance, a continuous process rather than a fixed state. It may be intimate or collective, imperfect, temporary, even contradictory, yet always necessary. Please do not approach it as an icon or slogan. We are not seeking doves, olive branches, or other universally recognisable symbols, comforting images that reduce a complex idea to a simplified visual language. Today, peace is understood as a fragile and unstable condition, never absolute or permanent. Contemporary jewellery designers are invited to investigate peace beyond literal representation, exploring it as an open question, a space for research, and an opportunity to challenge dominant narratives and conventional visual expectations. In this context, jewellery becomes a critical medium: not merely decorative or consolatory, but a tool for reflection, dialogue, and positioning.


>> Full conditions and application details here



Contest Schedule

- 11 June 2026: deadline for submitting digital files with your work, in the form of a drawing, photograph or other representation.
- 24 June 2026: first selection round.
- 28 June 2026: finalists will be notified and must send their items to the organization by July 06.
- 08 July 2026: final selection round to choose the 12 best designers, who will be notified in the following days.
- 20 July 2026: the 12 finalists will be officially announced.
- 11 October during VDW 2026: award ceremony (each designer may bring one guest upon invitation, sorry no more)
- 11 October 2026 during VDW 2026: 10.30 am guided tour of the exhibition and some designers will present their work to the public.
- After 25 October 2026: the finalists’ works will be returned to their respective owners, except in case of having the exhibition travel.

The selected participants will receive an email from us, while the official list of the selected designers will be available online only. 
The competition is promoted by Venice Design Week, Contemporary Jewelry Association Associazione Gioiello Contemporaneo (AGC).


Media Partner: GioielloContemporaneo.it, klimt02.net

Partners, galleries, concept stores: 16metriquadri, CreativityOggetti, Edmond à Venise, Romanian Jewelry Week, Israel Biennale, Brussels Jewellery week, Danzica Town and Fondazione le vie dell’ambra.

The exhibition will be held in a prestigious venue (in 2024 and 2025 it was held in the Giorgio Franchetti Gallery Museum at Ca’ d’Oro).