Baltic Amber 2024 > Other Criteria

Place: Satyrykon Gallery, 36 Main Square

Date: 17.04.-6.06.24

Opening: 11.05.24, 18:30

Organizer: International Amber Association

Curator: prof. Sławomir Fijałkowski

Opening hours:

Tuesday - Friday 11:00 - 18:00 

Saturday: 10:00 - 14:00

Admission free

Baltic Amber 2024 > Other Criteria exhibition is a representative review of the latest in amber art, in reference to the educational mission that its organiser, the International Amber Association – which brings together almost 300 people not only of science and business but also of creative circles, artists, designers and makers of original jewellery from all over the world – has been carrying out in its 28 years of activity.

The introduction to the amber anthology is a brief history of the origin of amber, a presentation of its varieties and processing methods, and masterful examples of old and recent handicraft. The core of the presentation is a meticulously curated collection of almost 100 unique items by leading amber artists from Poland and beyond, including prize- and honourable mention-winning jewellery in the Amberif Design Award and the Legnica goldsmithing art competitions sponsored by the International Amber Association.

The gold and amber artists who have been invited to participate in the exhibition include individuals with exceptional creative, artistic and design portfolios: Andrzej Szadkowski, Jarosław Westermark, Marcin Zaremski, Paweł Kaczyński, Małgorzata Kalińska, Kinga Sulej, Tadeusz Jaskowiak, Adriana Lisowska, Marcin Bogusław, Sara Gackowska, Sława Tchórzewska, Radek Szwed, Sławomir Fijałkowski and Jolanta Gazda, alongside Tri-City-based companies and design studios: Art7, S&A Jewellery Design, NAC Amber, Chilli – Irek Glaza, A2 Jewellery, Aleksander Gliwiński, Mariusz Gliwiński, Ela and Marek Pawłowski, Tomasz Kargul and Monika Błaszkowska, Giedymin Jabłoński, Dariusz Zarański, Izabela Gutowska and Przemysław Kuś, as well as international artists: Heidemarie Herb, Yutaka Minegishi, Ruudt Peters, Ramon Puig Cuyas, Nele Blanckaert, Arnald Jorda, Misato Takahashi, Alberto Davila, Silvia Belia, Emma Carrau Bueno and Miriam Arentz. A separate space is dedicated to jewellery prototypes using innovative CAD/CAM techniques, 3D printing, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) and parametric design, along with examples of creative application of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms by students of the Faculty of Design at the Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts.

The launch of the exhibition will be held at a special place, the Gallery of Art in Legnica, and at a special time, during the Legnica Jewellery Festival SILVER, which is Poland’s most important and, at the same time, one of the world’s major and oldest reviews of contemporary silversmithing. Annually, in May, it attracts the attention of audiences interested in avant-garde silversmithing as a reference point for many jewellery community discussions and comparisons (definitely worth making!).

The presentation’s message is to show the entire spectrum of artistic and performing values ​​of this extraordinary material: from its sculptural possibilities in freeform shaping, through the richness of amber’s natural features—its transparency, the internal structure of its cracks, opacities, contrast of colours, shades and outlines of fossilised resin layers, to experimental items which define the ‘handwriting’ of each creator: their material, technological, stylistic and narrative preferences.
A monographic exhibition – focused on a single topic – has an added documentary value, allowing one to record, at a selected point in time, the most prominent examples of original amber handicraft that could set an important comparative standard for subsequent, and by definition cyclical, Other Criteria presentations. Their title criteria would indicate the direction for artistic and design-oriented exploration, and invite ever new interpretations.

The curator’s intention for the exhibition is to foster a dialogue about the importance of design and the ways in which it can be promoted independently, transparently, based on the criterion of quality, and with no marketing simplifications, both in Poland and around the world. We remain hopeful that the proposed presentation format will be well received by professional audiences and that it will be the first step towards its cyclical continuation in different personal configurations but always with the same premise: the documentation of contemporary amber art at a world-class level.

prof. Sławomir Fijałkowski

The International Amber Association
IS THE SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT BALTIC AMBER

The International Amber Association was founded in 1996, in Gdansk, Poland. Members of the association include jewellery manufacturers, artists, scientists, traders and collectors and amber enthusiasts. The main objective of the association is to analyse, promote and spread reliable knowledge about Baltic amber.

The IAA Amber Laboratory offers testing of raw material and products made of or with Baltic amber, confirming it with the issue of a certificate. The IAA Appraisers Committee is responsible for developing the classification of amber jewellery stones.

The IAA has amassed an extensive subject library and is also active in publishing. Each year it publishes the magazine "Bursztynisko. The Amber Magazine" – co-created by researchers, art historians and designers – the only magazine in the world devoted entirely to amber. In 2023, the album Baltic Amber. Nature. History. Culture was published, presenting key information on geology, chemistry, biology, history, crafts and design.

Every year, the IAA Gallery hosts exhibitions by renowned artists from around the world. In 2023 alone, the Gallery presented exhibitions of amber award winners funded by the Association: Arnald Jorda from Spain, Alberto Dávila from Mexico and Miriam Arentz from Germany.

The IAA has been a patron and prize funder for many years, and our members sit on the juries of Polish and international competitions for artistic jewellery, including the Amberif Design Award, Legnica International Jewellery Competition and the Wladyslaw Strzeminski Competition Project.

Andrzej Szadkowski, brooch

Ramon Puig Cuyàs, brooch

Kinga Sulej, earrings

Martyna Golińska, ring, Academy of Fine Arts i Gdańsk