For the Lange Nacht der Schmuckkunst [Long Night of Jewelry Art] on 6 November 2012, the MAK is showing a miscellany of necklaces created between the nineteen-seventies and the present day, in an exhibition that will continue until 10 February 2013.

Ever since the late nineteen-fifties and even more since the sixties, jewelry has been evolving into an artistic genre of its own. Jewelry artists are orienting themselves increasingly on various contemporary trends in the visual arts, take them as incentive and interpret them in their works. The function of jewelry is no longer exclusively that of “decoration;” it is now far more interesting as a means of expression, telling us about the creative designer and the person it is intended for. This is not least of reasons why the piece of jewelry becomes an autonomous work of art, with galleries and museums organizing exhibitions and art magazines publishing articles on modern jewelry. Now that jewelry is freeing itself from its traditional bonds of material and wearability, the artist is opening up a boundless range of options, as can be seen in the MAK collection.

The following artists are represented with their works Gijs Bakker, Elisabeth J.G. Defner, Andrea Maxa Halmschlager, Susanne Hammer, Anna Heindl, Tomas Hoke, Beppe Kessler, Esther Knobel, Marion Kuzmany, Florian Ladstätter, Jacqueline Lillie, Fritz Maierhofer, Gerd Mosettig, Gabriella Nandori, Frans van Nieuwenborg and Martijn Wegman, Reinhold Reiling, Geoff Roberts, Peter Skubic, Eva Tesarik, Ladena Viznerova, Alberto Zorzi.

Curator Elisabeth Schmuttermeier, Curator MAK Metal Collection and Wiener Werkstätte Archive
Assistance Karl Riemerth