Villa Braghieri-Albesani was begun during the late 17th century and construction continued till the end of the 18th century. In 1809, the villa became property of the president of the Criminal Court of Piacenza – Pietro Albesani. The villa was bought by the Braghieri family in year of 1905. Carlo Braghieri, a prominent lawyer, willed the property to the Ente Comunale di Assistenza of Castel San Giovanni in 1971. Since 1996 Villa Braghieri-Albesani is a property of the commune and right now it is a museum and library.

The project has been running since 2011 and the participants are well-known and established artists from all over the world and growing artists – students. They represent the real “fermentation” in the world of art – turmoil, discussion, emotion.

Inspiration for this project is the source of roots in making culture and its related to wine. It’s interpreted and analysed by jewellery artists in their artworks. There are four main requirements in this competition: the coherence with a concept, the research on materials, the type of artistic expression and the quality of techniques. Every year artworks are being rated by the people who is professionals from the experience that they gained in their lifetime.

Eliana Negroni is the founder and curator of the project Gioielli in Fermento. She was born in Milan, graduated from Milan University and is engaged in industrial design. She has also completed Sommelier courses. She is a member of AGC, the Italian Association for contemporary jewelry.

The jury of the 2018 edition-
Roberta Bernabei (Loughborough University UK, contemporary jewellery teacher, researcher and essayist), Petra Hölscher (senior curator Die Neue Sammlung München Design Museum, Monaco di Baviera), Angela Madesani (Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milano e IED Istituto Europeo di Design, Milano, Italy, professor, art historian, contemporary art and photography curator and essayist), Maria Rosa Franzin (AGC Association board chairperson), Nichka Marobin (The Morning Bark founder, art historian and collector), Giò Carbone (LAO Jewellery School Firenze founder and director);
Board of advisors –
Roberta Bernabei (Loughborough University UK), Leo Caballero (Hannah Gallery, Barcelona, Spain), Charon Kransen (Charon Kransen Arts, New York, United States of America), Gigi Mariani (goldsmith artist, art jeweller, Modena, Italy), GianCarlo Montebello (BOMontebello, Milano, Italy), Paulo Ribeiro (Joya Art Jewellery and Object, Barcelona, Spain).

From September 7, 2018 until September 21, 2018 Art gallery PUTTI is hosting art exhibition dedicated to contemporary jewelry and wine – “Gioielli In Fermento: UN BEL PANORAMA”

– SCHMUCK 2018 – historical jewellery exhibition taking place since 1959 in Kunsthalle exhibition hall
– TALANTE – international new talent competition in jewellery design and technologies
– various events around the city

In this week jewellers, collectors, students, gallery representatives, professors, and other jewellery enthusiasts met and got to know each other.

Throughout the week in various locations all around Munich jewellery exhibitions, discussions, book presentations, performances and closing events took place; in total around 100 events.

Here is a small insight on the SCHMUCK 2018 events:

We would like to highlight the best experiences we had (keep in mind that we saw only a part of all the events):

• “The Meet” was a very interesting and engaging symposium organized by Art Jewelry Forum. We especially loved the first part where a panel of collectors discussed how curators select works for exhibitions, and how do museums decide to acquire them. The panel consisted of Susan Cummins, David Bielander, Liesbeth den Besten, and Petra Hölscher, the discussion was led by Benjamin Lignel. The discussion touched upon a few very interesting topics and we would love to hear a more elaborate opinions sometime in the future.
• “Shelf life” displayed works by work by 33 makers, staff and students of Central Saint Martins, BA Jewellery Design course. There were some really special and interesting pieces. We loved an unusual take on jewellery, in form of video by Stacey Huang.
• David Bielander was our favourite amongst all of the presentation we saw and visited during Munich Jewellery Week. His exhibition “Cashboards” was something truly special. The idea and ability that it takes to create jewellery from gold in a way that it looks like an effortless project made by light cardboard – this fascinated us.
• “(IM)PRINT” presented works that addressed different interpretations of the acts of publishing. These works displayed different takes on the connection between the languages of jewellery typography, editing, producing. We saw some interesting perspectives on how humans perceive date and information they see.
• The ladies from The Dialogue Collective did not disappoint with “The Royal Appointment”, as always. They simply have the ability to create an amazing atmosphere where the work is presented in a very beautiful and also engaging way. The importance of this cannot be stressed enough. They make sure that the visitors have the ability to discuss the theme of the presentation and each piece with its maker, simultaneously creating the feeling that nothing should be taken too seriously and the most important thing is to enjoy ourselves.
• “American Gothic” established a display that lived up to its name – it had some truly American (beer pong!) and truly gothic elements. The display was a great back ground to the varied pieces that had some fresh ideas.
• David Clarke and Bettina Speckner surprised us with the beauty and depth that we saw in the works as well as the presentation in the wonderful Galerie Christian Pixis. Speckner`s jewellery has such intricate details, polished to perfection. Each piece tells its own magical story. The works were presented on old, antique furniture pieces which helped to communicate the pieces excellently.
• “Everyday Epics” in Kunstpavillon had gathered great artists with wonderful pieces.  Again, we were struck by a different form of communicating the jewellery – this time it was an art work by Jing He – a photo of “Potential pin”. The trip made us think and discuss a lot about the boarders of jewellery where it meets different art forms.
• “The Box” was a very interesting project that we were impatient to see. The creators sent the artists a box of selected objects – CDs, erasers, towels and envelopes. It was so interesting to see how the jewellery designers have tackled this task. We especially loved the works by Reka Lorincz, we are always surprised and amused by her ideas. This time she collaborated with her favourite artists from other fields of art, and the result was wonderful.

The work on this animation film is the inspiration behind the upcoming solo exhibition of Valdis Brože in Art gallery Putti – “White Pate”. It will be on display from November 6 until November 24, 2015. The animation film “It`s about time” tells a story about time, and the fact that it cannot be stopped. The main character is a man who is made of silver and mammoth bone. Time goes by and the old man has decided to leave the room he lives in, which is full of memories about the things he experienced once. When working on this project, the artist had new ideas, he had an urge to develop them and bring in new stories, which would be told through his jewellery.

Lielais Kristaps National Film Festival is a Latvian film festival. It is the highest prize awarded in the Latvian cinema.

Exhibition participants are Latvian contemporary jewellery artists Andris Lauders, Guntis Lauders, Māris Auniņš, Māris Šustiņš and Valdis Brože.

The scenography elements in the exhibition are done by internationally acclaimed fashion brand “MAREUNROL`S” (Mārīte Mastiņa and Rolands Pēterkops), taking in mind the ancient nature of the amber and its historical meaning. They combined it with the resident of our planet since before Christianity, the neighbour of dinosaurs – the ant. In the exhibition one can see how the amber road crosses the roads of ants, which has actually happened – the evidence is seen in the amber pieces which are found with encapsulated ants.

Conversations with amber – this is what the exhibition is all about. In some way jewellery artist`s dialog with amber is a battle of two giants, where outstanding sense of the material and intellectual investment is needed. It is still upon discussion how much amber should be intervened by changing it, for it not to be destroyed. Every amber piece is unique in its colour, form and texture – therefore it is very important to preserve its natural beauty by adjusting the design of the jewellery piece to the amber not adjusting the amber to the design.

Amber has been through a lot and it is a powerful conversation companion, who asks for a partner of the same intelligence – the jewellery artist, the jewellery piece wearer and also the viewing audience.

Entrance in the exhibition is free of charge.

Ted Noten is one of today’s most original, radical designers. His transparent acrylic bags – containing objects ranging from animals, jewels and cocaine to pistols – have seduced collectors, confused the establishment, inspired fellow artists and challenged students all over the world. Beauty and violence, perfection and decay: these are themes that have never been absent from his oeuvre since he made his famous pendant featuring a mouse wearing a pearl necklace.

In his projects, Noten demonstrates a mastery of both the commercial arena and the art scene. He blends the idiom of the streets with the strict marching order of the catwalk, combining them in a way that simultaneously highlights the appeal and exposes the hypocrisy of museums, the world of fashion and bourgeois morality.

The book illustrates the pitiless precision of each separate design. At the same time it documents the immense playing field in which Noten operates. Through the eye of photographer Johannes Schwartz it provides intimate glimpses of his studio. And it follows him to international museums and gloomy villas, symposia and ateliers, leading newspapers and video clips, academies and brothels.