Nsaio6

Beginning with the renaissance of gemstones in jewellery design since the 1970s, Ute Eitzenhöfer, Theo Smeets, Lothar Brügel (ret. 2014) and Eva-Maria Kollischan (since 2014) successfully established the Hochschule Trier in Idar-Oberstein as a creative European jewellery centre. To mark the exhibition in the Stadtmusem Simeonstift in Trier on thirty years of the Gemstone and Jewellery Department, the publication shows an exciting selection of works from the last ten years. Works in creative design and photography accompany diverse approaches that exemplify the contemporary use of a reputedly 'outmoded' raw material. In exploring the aesthetic characteristics of the material and the experimental confrontation with its physical qualities, the gemstone's potential for design comes entirely into its own. Within current discourse it comments ironically, on the one hand, on the unilateral societal ascription as a luxury item; on the other, it functions as a charming and noble object of nature.

Text in English and German.

Ute Eitzenhofer and Theo Smeets are professors for gemstone & jewellery design at the University of Applied Sciences and art jewellers themselves. Eva Maria Kollischan is professor for artistic design and Julia Wild works in jewellery theory. Wilhelm Lindemann, born 1949. Studies in philosophy, comparative literature and social work. Worked in Idar-Oberstein as curator for the exhibition programme Idar-Oberstein schmuckt sich. Since 2005 has curated the annual academic symposium Thinking Jewellery - On the Way Towards a Theory of Jewellery held by the Trier University of Applied Sciences degree course in precious gemstones and jewellery design. Visiting lecturer for the theory of art at the Fachhochschule in Idar-Oberstein.