Legnica SILVER Festival – accompanying events

The Opening Weekend of the Legnica SILVER Festival doesn’t end with exhibition openings. The program will be enriched by events taking place right in the city center.

Performance Chain of Unity – students` performance of the Jewellery Institute of the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź 

8 May, 6:30 PM

Market Square, Legnica

The audience will be invited to join “Chain of Unity”, a participatory performance created by students from the Department of Jewellery at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. Between the Well of Lovers and the Neptune Fountain, participants will form a living chain built from gestures, movement, and human presence. At the centre of the action, a monumental pendant with a stone will appear, around which a collective shape visible from a bird’s-eye view will emerge. The performance cannot exist without its audience — everyone is invited to become part of the work and co-create one of the most symbolic moments of the Grand Opening.

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"Additional Value" – a performance by Dariusz Wojdyga

8 May, 7:30 PM

In the meantime and in-between space — between the vernissages

During the opening of the “Holownia” exhibition, the performance “Added Value” by Dariusz Wojdyga will take place. Once again entering the festival’s reality, the artist will invite participants into an action inspired by this year’s festival theme — EVERY BODY. The performance will begin within the exhibition space and conclude later that evening during the Silver Evening concert at the Modjeska Café Club.

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Silver Evening – concert by the band Suchy Pion

8 May, 8:30 PM

Klubokawiarnia Modjeska, 23 Main Square

The first day of the Opening Weekend will conclude with a performance by Suchy Pion – an energetic group combining music with performance art. The band is known for its punk expression, sharp and ironic commentary on everyday life, and a surprisingly sincere, almost therapeutic message. Their punk rock, full of distance to the world, positive energy, and intense emotions, combined with dynamic stage choreography, can move even the most unshakable audience members.

Free admission!

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Symposium “Boundaries of Global Art”

9 May, 11:00 AM

Hotel Qubus, 2 Skarbowa Street, Legnica

During the May Opening Weekend of the Festival, we will meet to listen to artists presenting their works at the exhibitions and to discuss the condition of contemporary jewellery and design. The Legnica SILVER Festival could not exist without the symposium “Boundaries of Global Art,” which brings together the worlds of academia, design, and culture. The topics of the talks and presentations will be—as always—diverse, but the common threads will remain jewellery and the theme of this year’s International Jewellery Competition: EVERY BODY.

 Free admission!

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Live demo  - A live VR design show with audience participation outside the Ring Gallery

9 May, 5:30 PM

The performative programme will continue on Saturday with a VR jewellery design demonstration prepared by students from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. In front of the Ring Gallery, the artists will create three-dimensional forms without paper, tables, or traditional tools — directly in digital space using Gravity Sketch software. Broadcast live on screen, the design process will allow audiences to observe the emergence of objects, in reference to the „State of Now” exhibition.

TOGETHER we can do MORE!

Students

We invite students of art, design and humanities to cooperate with us in preparing promotional materials for Legnica SILVER Festival. Do you make designs? Do you create? Do you write? Give vent to your creativity by preparing a photo session, an advertising spot, article, animation or graphics promoting a prestigious event of international importance, with the participation of world-class artists! Or maybe you dream of working as a curator or exhibition space designer? Write to us and we will be happy to consult your ideas and work with young talents!

Volunteers 

Join the silver team, which every year supports the organization of Legnica SILVER Festival. Are you enthusiastic, willing to work and eager to gain experience in organizing a large, international event? We are looking for young, creative people interested in art, marketing, public relations, computer graphics and other areas useful in organizing this type of events.

Support us!

We offer the opportunity to promote your company during one of the most important events in Europe dedicated to contemporary artistic jewellery!

Every year, dozens of jewellery makers, enthusiasts, specialists, journalists and critics from all over the world are guests of Legnica SILVER Festival. As part of our sponsorship cooperation we offer, among others, advertising in exhibition catalogues, social media and websites as well as the presentation of advertising materials in the exhibition rooms of the Gallery of Art and at trade fairs.

By joining the respected group of sponsors of Legnica SILVER Festival you also join the noble idea of patronage over one of the most important, but also the most niche artistic events in Europe.

Write about us!

We appreciate the efforts of journalists who care about the reliability and quality of information from the world of art and the jewellery industry. Throughout the history of SILVER Festival we have had the pleasure to work with many of them, promoting the event in leading jewellery magazines and websites in Poland and abroad (see the list of Festival partners). We are willing to cooperate with other media, websites, influencers and bloggers.

You are welcome to contact us in order to establish precise conditions of cooperation:

e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

tel. + 48 76 862 09 10

 Festival sponsor and Patron of the Festival:

Partners, Media Partners and Sponsors: 

Do you want to join the group of our partners? Find out more HERE.

The website is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport from the Culture Promotion Fund.

Legnica Jewellery Festival SILVER is co-finansed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund - state special purpose fund.

An important aspect of our work is publishing. The exhibitions organised within the framework of Legnica SILVER Festival are accompanied by catalogues presenting the artists' works with authorial or curatorial comments. They make a valuable contribution to the promotion and dissemination of knowledge about contemporary artistic jewellery. The first catalogue documenting the jewellery exhibition issued by our institution comes from 1978!

Since that time the Gallery has been publishing richly illustrated catalogues presenting awarded and outstanding works shown in exhibitions and the achievements of Polish and foreign jewellery artists. Apart from these, important publications are as well: books and catalogues summarising annual jewellers’ meetings in Legnica –"SILVER meetings" and works summarising over 60 years of scholarly activity by Professor Irena Huml "Ars Argenti".

Most of the publications can still be purchased in the Gallery of in Legnica or via the Internet.

Please, send your order to our e-mail address:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

phone: 76 862 09 10; 76 862 069

Orders are processed only after prior payment. Alternatively,  you can choose cash on delivery. We issue Vat invoices upon request made before the actual transaction.

 
The order preparation time is 3 working days.

SILVER meetings 2. Contemporary jewellery in Legnica 2012-2019

A bilingual (Polish-English), richly illustrated album publication presenting the latest history and achievements of Legnica SILVER Festival in a systematic and comprehensive way. The publication is a continuation of the SILVER meetings Legnica, which summed up the previous history of the Festival, i.e. the years 1979-2011. Published in late 2019, SILVER meetings 2 is a compendium of knowledge about the Festival, which grew out of the specificity of our region and over the 4 decades of its existence enriched and shaped its cultural life, at the same time expanding to finally become, at the beginning of the 21st century, one of the largest  European platforms for presenting contemporary jewellery.

Promotion: Purchasing SILVER meetings 2. Contemporary jewellery in Legnica 2012-2019, you will get SILVER meetings 1. Contemporary jewellery in Legnica 1979-2011 free of charge (as a bundle).

Price: 120 PLN + shipping costs

330 pages, paperback

HandMade – Polish Silver Art 1945-1979

A bilingual (Polish-English), catalogue of works presented at the exhibition HANDMADE during Legnica SILVER Festival in 2019 with a curatorial commentary by Krystyna Nowakowska PhD and a critical text by Dagmara Wójcik PhD. The jewellery shown in the catalogue documents the development and changes in the field of jewellery art in Poland over the years 1945-1979. The exhibition consists of works by Polish artists, which constitute the foundations of contemporary jeweller making. The publication presents a selection of them - we will see the works of post-war jewellery masters (Henryk Grunwald, Józef Fajngold, Mamert Celmiński, Jadwiga and Jerzy Zaremski) as well as those created in the Cooperatives of Art Handicraft, such as Imago Artis, Orno, Warmet and Rytosztuk.

Price: 45 PLN + shipping costs

84 pages, paperback

Borders of silver spaces... Polish jewellery of the second half of the 20th century

Irena Huml

A catalogue presenting works of Polish jewellery makers from the second half of the 20th century belonging to the collection of Prof. Irena Huml – author of many publications, studies and articles, a distinguished researcher, historian and art critic, for many years associated with the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. The publication presents characteristic examples of jewellery produced by the Cooperatives of Art Handicraft - such as ORNO or Imago Artis – but also works coming from unspecified brands as well as works of outstanding artists – among others J.J. Zaremski, Jacek Byczewski, Wojciech Rygało or Józef Fajngold. The catalogue contains an extensive commentary by Professor Irena Huml.

Price: 60 EURO + shipping costs

73 pages, paperback

TO NIE TO

EXHIBITIONS ONLINE

We would like to present the main personalities of the 41st edition of the Legnica Jewellery Festival SILVER - designers, artists, goldsmiths, professors and students, whose works can be seen during this year's exhibitions in Legnica. We invite you to listen to unique stories and statements, and to get an insight into the artistic achievements of the presented artists.

The online tours of exhibitions are a unique form of meetings with the creators and curators of the exhibitions, which is a response to the restrictions associated with the organisation of traditional openings, which every year in May attracted lovers of contemporary art jewellery in Legnica.

Promotional video:

Extranalities 6: Mechanorganic

Handmade 2. Polish silver art 1979-1999:

Delphine Perrache, Confrontations:

Andrzej Szadkowski, The rhythm of creative work 1968-2021:

Marion Delarue, Strangeness matters:

29th Legnica International Jewellery Competition "Still human?":

EXHIBITION CATALOGS

As every year, the exhibitions of the Legnica Jewellery Festival SILVER are accompanied by the catalogues. Publications give a closer look at presented pieces.

The following catalogues, presenting the exhibitions organized in frame of the Festival in 2021, can be downloaded below:

29th Legnica International Jewellery Competition Still human?

About the Artists: Marion Delarue, Strangeness matter

About the Artists: Delphine Perrache, Confrontations

Silver Schools: Jewellery and Metal Studio, Academy of Fine Arts (Shanghai University, China) and Metal and Jewel Studio, Academy of Fine Arts, Bratislava (Slovakia)

Debuts: Justyna Kowalska

Debuts: Luiza Mężyńska

Extranalities 6: Mechanorganic

SILVER SCREEN

We invite you to the Silver Screen show, a synthesis of posters submitted and qualified for the 29th International Jewellery Competition "Still Human?" subjectively combined with selected quotations accompanying jewellery works qualified for this year's edition of the competition and a short story about civilization and social changes, inspiring to deeper reflection on the world around us.

An attempt to reflect on the condition of mankind, its place in the world and in the universe, but also on human achievements - on the one hand incredible and inspiring, on the other - terrifying due to the scale of human expansion and the price that the planet, we ourselves and our world pay for the ongoing race with ourselves.

The show is an answer to the question "Are we really still human?", it is a combination of the artists' reflections on such an up-to-date issue.

PHOTO SESSION

Diamonds are no longer girls' best friends! Ladies throw off their jewels. They put on artists' jewellery, enriched by the context and the story of the creator.

See the effects of a photo session with the works presented at the exhibitions of the Legnica Jewellery Festival SILVER 2021.

Video from the photo session available HERE.

Eva Hudecová – Slovakia
brooches Identity

Eva Hudecová – Slovakia
brooches Identity

Eva Hudecová – Slovakia
brooches Identity

Eva Hudecová – Slovakia
brooches Identity

Eva Hudecová – Slovakia
brooches Identity

Dot Melanin – Germany
necklace Body

Dot Melanin – Germany
necklace Body

Andrzej Szadkowski – Poland
brooch from the Art Systems series

Andrzej Szadkowski – Poland
brooch from the Art Systems series

Andrzej Szadkowski – Poland
two-element necklace Peacock

Andrzej Szadkowski – Poland
two-element necklace Peacock

Andrzej Szadkowski – Poland
two-element necklace Peacock

Marion Delarue – France
bracelets Monsters for company

Marion Delarue – France
bracelets Monsters for company

Renata Korpas-Sutowicz – Poland
object Mirror

Renata Korpas-Sutowicz – Poland
object Mirror

Delphine Perrache – France
brooch Peep-show

Delphine Perrache – France
brooch Peep-show

Delphine Perrache – France
ring Cutting-edge
earrings Pegasus

Delphine Perrache – France
ring Cutting-edge

Delphine Perrache – France
necklace Borealis

Justyna Kowalska – Poland
ring from the collection Symmetry

Delphine Perrache – France
necklace Borealis

Justyna Kowalska – Poland
ring from the collection Symmetry

Mariana Bilbao Gonzalez-Dueñas – Spain
brooch Forget your name

Mariana Bilbao Gonzalez-Dueñas – Spain
brooch Forget your name

Justyna Kowalska – Poland
rings from the collection Symmetry

Justyna Kowalska – Poland
rings from the collection Symmetry

Luiza Mężyńska – Poland
pendant from the collection Beauty

Luiza Mężyńska – Poland
pendant from the collection Beauty

Sara Gackowska – Poland
brooch Loop

Sara Gackowska – Poland
brooch Loop

Vladimíra Labudová – Slovakia
ring Micro-Macro

Vladimíra Labudová – Slovakia
ring Micro-Macro

Marion Delarue – France
brooch Parrot devotees

Marion Delarue – France
brooch Parrot devotees

Shifa Hu – China
necklace Nostalgia

Shifa Hu – China
necklace Nostalgia

Delphine Perrache – France
pendant Dalliance

Delphine Perrache – France
pendant Dalliance

Models: Marta Ławniczek, Lidia / Agnieszka - SPP Models (Facebook, Instagram)

Place: Royal hall, Legnica Art Centre

Realization: Maciej Korbas, Łukasz Parlicki, Karolina Rojek

xxxx

A holographic Whitney Houston is just setting off on a European tour, and she is not the first pop idol resurrected to perform “live” again...  You can plan a holiday in space because in two years' time a hotel on orbit will be available for an exorbitant price of nearly $ 800,000 per day!

A brave new world? Is it really for us?

We, humans, are drowning in depression - in ten years' time depression will be the most common disease of mankind, although even today only 5% of the population are considered thoroughly healthy. Obesity kills three times as many people as famine, while death from exhaustion happens every second in the world, with half the food produced globally being wasted. In our civilized world, wars, attacks, assaults and massacres still pay off, and two out of five murdered women in the world are killed at home by their partner.

 Today, as the philosopher writes ominously, "we can only fear ourselves”1. 

 Even theocentrism and the Copernican Revolution have not cured us from selfishness, nor have they taught us humility in the face of nature’s greatness and the power of its elements. Living in a post-human reality shared with humanoid mutants, clones, cyborgs and hybrids, we still refuse to accept the crisis of anthropocentrism.

 In an era when machines are smarter than people and it is with them that we spend most of the day, when we irreversibly overgrow with plastic (it is deposited in our bodies and at the bottom of the oceans), when we are able to examine, produce and sell everything, we continue to argue about the humanity of the zygote, the primitive tribes, the coloured races, or finally the urban existence that isolates us from nature and the natural rhythm of day and night, replacing the bonds of neighbourhood with media-communities. We still need bodies, but aesthetic medicine and medical nanotechnologies, body art with Orlan and Stelarc at the forefront, body hacking and virtual reality evidence the fact that we are just crossing this immemorial border. We haven’t got rid of the reptile's brain, but we have gained a "smartphone thumb", we haven’t freed ourselves from animal instincts, but we get cybersex and adrenaline... in the cinema chair.

 Would the first cloned sheep Dolly or Alba (the fluorescent rabbit by Eduardo Kac) forgive us? And the lions, elephants and whales killed mindlessly on a whim, or dolphins, whom we defined as non-human persons in 2013, but still imprison, abuse and kill? Choosing the concrete jungle, the virtual world, swallowing synthetic dietary supplements, drinking nutritional drinks - are we as human as our ancestors? Turning away from other people and  towards ourselves in a selfie gesture – are we still human? Have we conquered the world or have we destroyed it?

Behind all this there are human beings... But are they still human?

1 Jolanta Brach-Czaina, Błony umysłu, Warsaw, Sic! Publishing House, 2003, p. 123 

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