Travel is so fantastic! It provides ways of learning that nothing else can, which is why Art Jewelry Forum has organized trips throughout the world since its beginnings in 1997. Last month, we traveled to Estonia and Sweden with 23 people. We had a blast in both places thanks to the great organizational skills of Tanel Veenre, Sofia Bj�rkman, and Linda Peshkin. Thank you for a wonderful job, both beforehand and during our visit! Several people in the group had been to Sweden before, and Scandinavian design and contemporary jewelry are fairly well-known, so we were aware that we would see great work there. It definitely lived up to our expectations.
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AJF Sweden/Estonia Travel Group, 2014,
photo: Susan Cummins
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But the big surprise was Estonia. Tallinn's old town, dating back to the 13th century, is charming, with its cobble-stoned streets and crumbling city wall. But the most impressive was the quality, spirit, and articulateness of the jewelers, including the students. The incorrigible Marion Fulk will write up a more detailed account of the trip, which will appear in next month's newsletter. Thanks to all the jewelers who opened their studios, the galleries, the museums, the curators, and everyone who took the time and energy to help us understand what they do. It was so inspiring.
As the fall season (or spring in the southern hemisphere) begins, look for announcements about the finalists and winner of the AJF Artist Award, the new 2015 AJF pin design, plans for a new book, a Kickstarter campaign, and more.
N�gemist! (that's Estonian for "bye, see you")
Susan Cummins
AJF Chair
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WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST SUPPORTERS
We are delighted to introduce our newest supporters: Academy of Art University (San Francisco, California), Laura Deakin, Michael Gayk, the newest faculty at SUNY New Paltz, and Studio Fusion Gallery (London, UK). They became part of the AJF community in the past month. Thanks! You can find a list of all our supporters on our website.
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Discount on Arnoldsche books for AJF Supporters
Did you get the email we sent last week? AJF has arranged with Arnoldsche Art Publishers and its distributor, ACC Distribution, to give AJF supporters a big discount on all of their great books. It's our way of showing our appreciation for your support! Just go to the appropriate website (see below) and, upon checkout, answer the question Do you have a promotional code? by typing in AJF.
If you live in America and Canada go here.
If you live anywhere else go here.
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: AJF AA APPLICATION CLOSED
The application for AJF AA closed at the end of day on September 30, 2014. We are looking forward to seeing all the work submitted, and our jurors--curator Carin Reinders, studio artist and 2014 AJF AA winner Sooyeon Kim, and collector Karen Rotenberg--are eager to get started. The five finalists will show their work during Schmuck 2015 in Munich, Germany, and the winner will receive an unrestricted cash award of $7500, thanks to the generous support of Susan Kempin and Susan Beech, both longtime supporters of AJF. Keep on the lookout for more information as the selection process proceeds.
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 A GIFT FOR YOU: Signs of Life
For ten years Fac�r� Jewelry Art Gallery has produced
Signs of Life, a literary magazine and a jewelry art show. Nine jewelry artists and nine published writers collaborate. A copy of this magazine is yours for the asking. This gift from Fac�r� is a way of saying thank you to supporters of the world of jewelry art. Send your address to Fac�r� and they'll pop one in the mail to you! (Single issues from past years are available for $14.00 each.)
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FEATURED INTERVIEW: Carin Reinders
Have you wondered what drives museums to start a collection of contemporary jewelry? How they make their choices? Where the work comes from? Susan Cummins talks with Carin Reinders of CODA Museum in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, to ask how it all happens.
Susan Cummins: Could you describe CODA and its mission in the Netherlands for me?
Carin Reinders: The current jewelry collection gives an overview of the period from around 1960 until now. Besides Dutch jewelry, the collection also documents conceptual movements abroad. Pieces by Dutch designers like Emmy van Leersum, Gijs Bakker, Onno Boekhoudt, Fran�oise van den Bosch, Nicolaas van Beek, Marion Herbst, and Ruudt Peters are found alongside the work of Caroline Broadhead from Great Britain and German artist Dorothea Pr�hl. Not only established designers are followed; young artists like Gesine Hackenberg, Stephanie Jendis, and Constanze Schreiber are also included.
Read more...
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 FEATURED EXHIBITION REVIEW: The Gijs+Emmy Spectacle
In a five-year period, from 1967-1972, Gijs Bakker and Emmy van Leersum challenged what jewelry could be, "fighting against what jewelry was," and building monumental but lightweight jewelry that expressed the progressive personality of its young wearer. The exhibition of this period of work, curated by Marjan Boot at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, is a continuation of a previous exhibition on the sixties at the Stedelijk and focuses on the strongly influential and iconic work of Gijs and Emmy. Morgane de Klerk reviewed the exhibition for AJF. We hope you enjoy seeing the exhibition from her eyes.
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 FEATURED ARTICLE: Keeping the Faith--The Rise of the Collective in Mexico, Taiwan, and Beyond
Kevin Murray looks at the expansion of contemporary jewelry internationally. As contemporary jewelry moves into areas with different values and structures concerning creating, the critical framework used to assess work becomes suspect. Specifically looking at collectives as the creative agent, as opposed to the individual studio model, Murray wonders if "originality" and "ambition" might be less relevant concepts than "generative" and "solidarity" in assessing the value of work coming from a collective model.
Read more...
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AJF PUBLICATIONS
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These books make a great addition to any craft-conscious library!
<<< Damian Skinner's survey of different facets of the field, Contemporary Jewelry in Perspective, with contributions from many thinkers on the topic, is a great introduction to the wide world of contemporary jewelry.
>>> Benjamin Lignel's AJF Best of Interviews is a look behind the scenes into the private thoughts of makers, curators, and collectors.
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SUPPORT AJF
Take advantage of Amazon's new feature, AmazonSmile.
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support Art Jewelry Forum every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you'll find the exact same low prices, vast selection, and convenient shopping experience as at Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price (0.5%) to AJF.
You shop. Amazon gives to Art Jewelry Forum.
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