Introduction [Contemporary Jewellers Interviews with European Artists]

The book offers a reference for anyone interested in contemporary European jewellery design. Through guided conversations with 25 contemporary jewellery artists, Bernabei reveals the creative, conceptual and technical working practices that underpin the aesthetic of each practitioner's work. These are framed by an introductory essay that contextualises the origins of contemporary jewellery practice through the distinction between drawing and making initiated by the advent of pattern books and the subsequent Industrial Revolution. In addition, the dialogs shed new light on these jewellers sources inspiration and their ideas relating to functionality and the human body. Each interview is supported by photographs and a detailed bibliography and appendix which locates the jewellers work in galleries, museums as well as online. Major jewellery artists present include: Giampaolo Babetto, Gijs Bakker, Otto Kunzli, Ruudt Peters, Mario Pinton and Tone Vigeland, alongside members of the emergent generation: Ted Noten, Annamaria Zanella and Christoph Zellweger. The book, which opens the door to contemporary jewellery practice, will hopefully be welcomed by all students, lecturers and practitioners alike.