Munich 2026

 Hi,

I am going to do a short overview of what I saw in London and Munich between February 24th and March 9th. I left London on Tuesday, March 3rd, and was in Munich on Wednesday for the opening day at Schmuck.

I took very few images in London, so these are some of them.... mostly at places we ate. I was there with a friend who knew all the best places to eat and had museum shows all picked out for us to see. Wonderful tour.

                       Entrance to Berkeley Hotel- always with fresh flowers- it was a beautiful hotel.

 

One of the Berkeley restaurants - There are several.

Odlonghi restaurant called Rovi

These paper flowers were in the window of a store we walked by. They were amazing.

So that is it for London.... 

Now on to Munich- I took a lot more images here. But before I get into things, let me just say that I spent most of my time at the Messe, where the Schmuck show and the surrounding galleries are located. I wanted to be there to see the talks that I had arranged for the AJF booth. AJF will post them with the PowerPoint images each artist put together online soon, so I won't say too much about them because you can watch them yourself soon. I asked the speakers to talk about something controversial, and I also put a limit of 15 minutes on each presentation. Most speakers followed that. I hope you enjoy them.

This is Nathalie on the left and Stef on the right. They are the main staff at AJF

Stef and Nathalie ran the booth and the speakers. And they did a great job. 

Two speakers couldn't get to Munich due to the actions of the fearless leader of the US. Flights had been canceled, so Aaron Decker and Kevin Murray couldn't travel to Munich. Aaron was the first speaker, so he did a Zoom presentation. Kevin Murray was the first speaker on Thursday, so he presented on Zoom as well. 

I think it might be best to show you the whole schedule with images I took (or found) of the participants.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2026
11:00 Aaron Decker, Call It a Niche
The American jeweler asks, is art jewelry just another niche, and if so, what does it serve?

13:00 (1 pm) Elena Karpilova, To Climb Up a LadderThe educator, artist, and writer from Belarus/Portugal reflects on how to see the contemporary jewelry scene in a broader context—and why we all need, from time to time, to climb up a ladder so that the “furrows” in the ground, when viewed from above, turn into meaningful shapes.

14:00 (2 pm) Roberta Bernabei, Re-Conceptualizing [Dis]obedient Jewelry Material Agency and the Disruption of Normative Expectations
The Italian-British editor of JJR reframes jewelry as (dis)obedient bodymatter—an active agent rather than a passively worn object.

THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2026
11:00 Kevin Murray, Re-Wilding Jewelry: Contemporary Adornment for the “More than Human”
The Australian editor of Garland magazine poses the question: What does it mean to make jewelry for the "more than human"?

13:00 (1 pm) Mette Saabye, Jewelry Dialogues
The Danish maker and curator examines jewelry as a language for entering into dialogue with people.

                                         

14:00 (2 pm) Paul Derrez, Jewelry: Beauty or Activism?
The Dutch maker and gallerist asks what do we make, collect, or wear—which choices do we make?

FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2026

13:00 (1 pm) Mike Holmes, William Clark Jewelry: Lost & Found
The American gallerist asks, “What happens to jewelry once it has been released into the world? Hopefully it gets loved and worn, but many times it ends up forgotten in a drawer and sometimes lost for years …  waiting to be found.”

14:00 (2 pm) Caroline Broadhead, Rebellious Beads
The English artist and educator considers the bead. Just a small object with a hole, it can nevertheless convey so much social information, hold narrative, and be used for exchange and religious ritual.

15:00 (3 pm) Cindi Strauss, Flashpoint: Contemporary Jewelry in the Museum
The field of contemporary jewelry consistently debates its lack of sustained presence in the encyclopedic museum. Why isn’t the work shown more often in meaningful ways? The American curator discusses the challenges and opportunities for change.

SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2026

11:00 Veronika Fabian, Is It Worth It?
The Hungarian-British maker examines the shifting contemporary jewelry landscape through the lens of a former market analyst.

13:00 (1 pm) Keith Lewis, Partly Miscible: My Uneasy Relationship with European Studio Jewelry
With tongue firmly in cheek, the American jeweler reflects on what he finds both interesting and irritating about European-influenced studio jewelry.

14:00 (2 pm) Tanel Veenre, Beauty as a Simulacrum, the Artist as a Fraudster
The Estonian artist introduces some of the world’s greatest manipulators and illusionists in the field of jewelry art. The artist as a fraudster, a trickster—not in order to deceive us, but to show how easily we believe. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 8

15:00 (3 pm) Dirk Allgaier, Thoughts on Jewelry and International Women’s Day on March 8: Three Impressive Female Artists from the Last 100 Years
On International Women's Day, the German publisher of fine craft books spotlights jewelry by three female artists. Who? Find out at the talk!

One of the main features of this week is the Schmuck show here in the Messe. These are a few shots of pieces from Schmuck that intrigued me this year. It was juried by Sam Tho Doung, a jeweler and educator.

Masoumeh Rezaeilouyeh- an Iranian jeweler

                    

Harriete Estel Berman- an American

Bernhard Schobinger- Swiss

Steven KP- American

Eunmi Chun -South Korean

Jheng Gang Chen- Chinese

These next images are random shots from around the fair. 

                   Carolyn Broadhead from Sofia Bjorkman Gallery

Socks

   

Rosi Jäger Gallery 

Rosi Jäger Gallery 

In addition to the talks on Saturday, AJF presented the Young Jeweler's Award to 

Benedict Haener from Switzerland. He is the third from the right.

Here is one of his pieces- looks like candy, doesn't it?

 On Friday morning, I spoke about the new book Marzee at the Arnoldsche Art Publisher's presentation of new books at Galerie Handwerk. It is a book I worked on with Damian Skinner about the phenomenal dealer Marie Jose van den Hout and her gallery, Marzee. 

Here I am after my talk about Galerie Marzee. Marie-Jose is next to me, and Dirk, the publisher, is next to her

Dorothea Pruhl, Helen Drutt, and Marie Jose van den Hout- power combo

On Sunday morning, Otto Kunzli gave a lecture about his work. As always, he had a different approach, and it was fascinating. The flag image and the next one with the stars strung on a string are both in the Rotasa Collection that went to the Houston MFA. They certainly represent what America is looking like now.

Kunzli and one of his brooches- the red heart.

OK, I think that is it. Sorry, I didn't show you something every day, but this is a good overview of the most important moments.

Big hugs to you all,

Susan