Tincal lab Challenge

Venue: Copper Museum, 3 Partyzantów St.

Open: 5.04.-1.06.2025
Opening: 10.05.2025, 18:30
Opening hours:
In the winter season (from 1 October to 31 May)
Tuesday to Friday from 10:00-17:00 on Saturdays from 11:00-17:00

In the summer season (from 1 June to 30 September)
Wednesday to Friday from 10:00-17:00, Saturday and Sunday from 11:00-17:00

Admission free

Jewelry and Freedom

Tincal lab Challenge is an annual initiative that starts with an Open Call to jewellers from all over the world and results in a collective exhibition that aims

to inspire artists and increase public awareness to contemporary jewellery.

It is organised by the Tincal lab gallery from Porto (Portugal), headed by artist Ana Pina. Each edition bears a separate theme.

In 2024, it was “Jewelry and freedom”. It gathered around 200 exclusive jewelry pieces created by the 78 jewelers from 31 different countries selected by the jury from more than 250 applications.

Ana Pina

Ana Pina was born in 1980, in Porto (Portugal). She graduated in architecture (FAUP, 2004) and worked in an office for a few years, until she found her passion for jewellery design. She developed her personal brand since 2012, and founded Tincal lab studio in the summer 2015. In her work she combines her background in architecture with traditional jewellery techniques and contemporary concepts of design in the creation of jewels with a strong abstract and geometric inspiration, in search of a modern, versatile and feminine style.

Artists:

Carolina Apolonia – The Netherlands

Eugènia Arnavat – Spain

Isabelle Azaïs – France/Belgium

Lija Álvarez – Spain

Galit Barak – Israel

Susana Barbosa – Portugal

Lena Birgitsdotter – Sweden

Marcin Bogusław – Poland

Sandra Bostock – Mexico

Raffaella Brunzin – Italy

Yuri Bylkov – Russia/Argentina

Anne Luz Castellanos – Mexico / Argentina

Norman Cherry – Scotland/England

Yu Tzu Chou – Taiwan

Cleopatra Cosulet – Romania

CICLO/Paula Petiz – Portugal

Young-ji Chi – Republic of Korea

Dora Des – Hungary/Austria

Letícia Domingues – Portugal/Germany

Lena Echelle – USA/Argentina

Evgenia Elanic – Russia/Georgia

Esteban Erosky – Mexico/Spain

Micol Ferrara – Italy/Spain

Sławomir Fijałkowski – Poland

Elin Flognman – Sweden

Ani Flys – USA/Spain

Sabrina Formica – Italy

Samantha Fung – Venezuela/Spain

FRUTO/Constanza Nolé – Argentina

Be García – Spain

Juan Harnie – Belgium

Brigitta B. Horváth – Hungary

Poly Iglesias – Argentina

Lorena Jarpa – Chile

Meta Joanknecht – The Netherlands

Katie Kameen – USA

Annelieke Landré – The Netherlands

Lois Lo – China/United Kingdom

Heidi Lowe – USA

Sophie Lowe – United Kingdom

Carmen López – Spain

Lunante/Paolo Gambarelli – Italy

Aušra Mačiulaitienė – Lithuania

Stephie Morawetz – Austria

Susanne Matsché – Austria/Germany

Mo (Mengjie Mo) – China/USA

Clodagh Molloy – Ireland

Fanni Nagy – Hungary

Iona Nieva – Argentina

Taibe Palacios – Chile

Isabella Perillo – Brazil

Lidia Puica – Romania

Catalina Rivera – Peru/Spain

Yaiza Rodríguez – Spain

Silvina Romero – Argentina

Andrea Serini – Argentina

Francine Schloeth – Switzerland

Jane Sedgwick – United Kingdom

Birgit Thalau – Luxembourg

Anna Timár – Hungary

Ho Oi Ying Valerie – Hong Kong

Juergen Veit – Germany

1. P. Vellaco –  Brazil

Rita Soto Ventura – Chile

Salvador Vico – Spain

Rachel Ruiyi Wang – China/United Kingdom

WEK/Telma Oliveira – Portugal

Ruiya Xu – China/United Kingdom

This is a special year for Portugal. On April 25th of 2024, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the end of a dictatorship that had lasted for more than 4 decades. Imagine waking up one day and the world has changed. But freedom is a volatile and fragile concept, 50 years later we cannot take it for granted.

The red carnation is the symbol of our April Revolution, for us a symbol of freedom. But what does it mean to be free? What does freedom mean to you? How would you represent it?

The concept of freedom is diverse and complex. Political freedom (or the lack of it) can be associated with physical imprisonment, war, the tyranny of power. But we can also talk about freedom of expression, free will, freedom that promotes equality – after all, where does ours begin and the other’s end?

After fundamental rights are guaranteed, the concept of freedom takes on more personal contours – freedom to act, think, decide, love... basically, to live our lives according to our own criteria, our beliefs. More than ever we discuss about equality of gender and gender identity, the freedom to choose, to be ourselves, without suffering any type of discrimination for it. The future or a utopia?

For some, freedom can be the absence of ties and possessions. Will we really be free if we are financially dependent on a job formatted by society, emotionally linked to someone or simply caught up by our own expectations? On the other hand, can we fully enjoy our freedom, absolutely alone and isolated from

the world?

For an individual to be free, they need to be independent and autonomous, but also informed. Nowadays, freedom of access to information is illusory and often a form of control. How can we distinguish the real from the manipulated?

The works presented at the exhibition refer to the above reflections, presenting a panorama of definitions of freedom.

Ani Flys –  USA / Spain
Freedom Wings necklace, egg shells, resin, silver, silk ribbon, rubber, 2024

Esteban Erosky – Mexico / Spain

I Am A Faithful Dog, I Am What I Want To Be, My Family Will Always Love Me brooches, enamel on copper, painted aluminum, 2024