2023-05-08

The award ceremony at the 31st International Jewelery Competition "Quality", which is the most important event of the Legnica SILVER Festival, is behind us. Great emotions were brought by Saturday's culmination evening, during which we learned the names of the winners, selected by the jury from over three hundred works by nearly two hundred artists from all over Europe, but also from beyond. This year's jurors included: prof. Sławomir Fijałkowski and prof. Piotr Korduba (Poland), David Sandu (Romania), prof. Ludmila Šikolová (Czech Republic) and Ana Pina (Portugal).

The prizes included 5 kilograms of silver, given by KGHM S.A., which has a special and symbolic dimension. The winners also received financial prizes with a total value of PLN 40,000, a kilogram of amber from the International Amber Association and numerous distinctions.

The highest prize - the Grand Prix of the Competition - was won by the Korean artist Youjin Um, honored for the intricately made silver brooches, perfectly corresponding to the theme of "Quality". As noted by the judges, Um's work "amazes with its perfection, redefining the sophisticated filigree technique that has allowed the artist to design highly contemporary and almost architectural brooches." Youjin Um also received an award from Lost in Jewelery magazine.

The second prize went to Iris Hummer from Austria. Its ring, which functions as a megaphone or a telescope, resembles the connection between jewelery and the senses. It is also a perverse interpretation and a metaphor of functionality. The Hummer also received an award from the Mydaybyday Gallery. Susanne Hammer (Austria/Germany) also stood on the podium (third place - Award of the Mayor of the City of Legnica). The jury was won over by a necklace made of steel and silver pipes. The precisely arranged elements of the object move under the influence of the body movements of the person wearing it.

The Art Gallery Award went to Christina Karababa from Greece, an extensive, multi-part and conceptual project of 7 Quotations from Jewellery. Statements of jewelry designers have been reformatted and materialized as a 3D print. In turn, the Silver Spur - a special prize of the organizers for creative courage and uncompromisingness, innovation or wit of creative expression - went to the Polish goldsmith, Tadeusz Jaśkowiak, winner of the Grand Prix of the Competition in 2021. "Diamond" cartridges are a commentary on current events, also evoking universal, pacifist connotations.

Saturday evening in Legnica brought a lot of joy to the Polish designer Magdalena Szadkowska, who received as many as five awards: the Inhorgenta Fair Award, the Honorable Mention of the Goldsmithing Artists Association, the YES Gallery Award, the PB Group Mention and the International Amber Association Award.

The Hopea company awarded Arek Wolski with its own financial award, the honorary distinction of the director of the Art Gallery was awarded to Sharareh Aghaei (Iran/Germany), the Odlewnicze Uslugi award - Marcin Bogusław, and Teresa Dantas (Portugal) - the award of the International Amber Association.

The post-competition, main exhibition of the Festival includes works by 40 qualified artists from 16 countries. The remaining (unqualified) works went to the traditional show entitled Towing. These are - of course - not the only exhibitions of the SILVER Festival in Legnica. The program of this year's "Silver" includes three individual shows. In "Creators' Profiles" they presented the work of Jolanta Gazda and Kirsten Plank (Germany), Patryk Caban's debut show. In Legnica, you can also see the projects of students and lecturers from the Metal and Jewelery Studio operating at the Faculty of Arts and Crafts at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo (Norway) and from the Jewelery and Blacksmithing Studio at the Faculty of Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Tallinn (Estonia). The visitors will also find collective presentations of Extranalities and the Tokyo Contemporary Jewelery Symposium, as well as the International Collection of Contemporary Goldsmith Art (collection of the Art Gallery in Legnica). The full program of the Festival can be found here.

The exhibitions of the Legnica SILVER Festival will be available until June, and the post-competition exhibition at the Art Gallery will be open until July 16. Admission to all exhibitions is free.

A description of the jewelry from the gallery can be found here.