Author: Inger Wästberg

Art Jewellery – a personal perspective

In art jewellery circles, Inger Wästberg is known as one of the most acclaimed collectors and promoters of Swedish design. Her interest in art jewellery began in the late 1990s, when her husband was Swedish Consul General in New York and she began to wear Swedish art jewellery in official contexts, which gave a great response. In this book, she presents pieces from her own jewellery collection in order to shine light on some of the themes that have been important in Swedish art jewellery in recent decades – such as gender issues, social criticism, nature and recycling. Love Jönsson, director of Rian designmuseum Text: Inger WästbergPhoto: Catarina ÅströmGraphic design: Helene StevenbergPublisher Arvinius + Orfeus Publishing AB Released at Liljevalchs+ exhibition ”Iakttagelser” curated by Sara Borgegård Älgå, May 6th 2022.Get the book at Bokus

Contemporary Swedish Silver in Florence

Published by Inger Wästberg

Botticelli Gallery Preziosa 2017New approaches to an enduring tradition. The oldest known Swedish silver mine dates from about 1360. Having reliable sources of the metal is but one reason for the success of Sweden´s silversmiths. Another of greater importance is the high quality of their education, primarily through the Konstfack (University of Art Craft and Design). At Konstfack all the participants in the exhibition got their higher education. LOD – a group of seven silver artists who share a combined studio and a gallery in Stockholm – seeks to keep silver production alive and create a higher interest for their skills. The silver is handled without gloves to demonstrate that it is not something to be put away in a closet, but be used all the time in daily life. They are revising the appearance of traditional products. Good examples are Klara Eriksson’s bowel and whisk. And why not have a sink stopper in silver and rubber?“You have to create a teapot before you are a real silversmith”, says Petronella Eriksson. In the exhibition several teapots are reworked Läs mer

Auli Laitinen

Published by Inger Wästberg

TV 4 från utställningen i New York

Published by Inger Wästberg

Smyckekonsten är en del av konstvärlden och är mycket mer än dekoration, kommenterar Helen Drutt English. Det var roligt att få curera denna utställning på R&R Gallery i New York – och att så många centrala personer i New Yorks kulturvärld kom, liksom att budskapet gick fram. Det kontaktnät jag byggde upp under våra år i New York är fortfarande till glädje. http://www.tv4.se/nyheterna/klipp/svensk-smyckeskonst-gör-succe-i-usa-3912982

Nationalmuseum ställer ut svensk smyckeskonst i Venedig

Published by Inger Wästberg

Utställningen ”Transformations – Six Artists from Sweden” öppnar den 11 maj i Museo Palazzo Mocenigo, ett renässanspalats i centrala Venedig. De sex smyckeskonstnärerna Tobias Alm, Sara Borgegård Älgå, Hanna Hedman, Catarina Hällzon, Agnes Larsson och Märta Mattsson bidrar tillsammans med 57 verk i utställningen som pågår samtidigt som Venedigbiennalen. Hanna Hedman, ”While they await extinction”, 2011, brosch; silver, koppar och färg. Foto: Sanna Lindberg Utställningen är ett samarbete mellan Nationalmuseum och Venedigs stadsmuseum (Musei Civici di Venezia) där Palazzo Mocenigo-museet ingår. Smyckeskonstnärerna har alla etablerat sig som konstnärer under 2000-talet. Var och en har de utvecklat en personlig och innovativ stil. Deras arbeten visar hur smyckeskonsten har förvandlats till ett reflekterande konstnärligt uttryck. Utställningen kan ses som en rapport över de aktuella trenderna inom svensk smyckeskonst just nu. Den bidrar också till den pågående diskussionen om definitioner och gränser. Är smyckeskonsten konst eller konsthantverk? Kanske saknar frågan relevans i dag. Konstnärerna har i många fall valt att arbeta med enklare, billigare material för att betona att det är den konstnärliga strävan, inte de ädla stenarna, Läs mer

Smyckeutställning i New York

Published by Inger Wästberg

The exhibition will present the work of five contemporary Swedish art jewelers who are redefining the field in their country and bringing global attention to their work. “Breakthrough” will feature the work of Ingrid Bärndal, Agnieszka Knap, Åsa Lockner, Hedvig Westermark, and Jelizaveta Suska. This exhibition is curated with Swedish collector, author, and scholar Inger Wästberg. Ingrid BärndalNecklace: Four Seasons #1, 2017Silver, aventurine, tourmaline, sweetwater pearls, PLA. Läs mer:Meatpacking DistrictKlimt02 Mer om utställningen:KlimtArtsy

Breakthrough – Utställning i New York

Published by Inger Wästberg

Den 3 maj öppnar utställningen BREAKTHROUGH -som jag curerar – i New York “Breakthrough: Swedish Art Jewelry Today” Debuting in the US the work of five important Swedish contemporary jewelers. Opening and Artist Reception, Wednesday, May 3rd, 5-8pmExhibition Continues Through June 25th For Immediate Release- ”Breakthrough: Swedish Art Jewelry Today” will highlight the work of 5 contemporary Swedish jewelers who are redefining the field in their country and bringing attention to it globally. The exhibition is co-curated by Swedish curator and scholar, Inger Wästberg. Each of these artists’ work is grounded in traditional metalsmithing and inspired by historical jewelry yet their vocabulary includes a wide range of materials and techniques. The majority of their work is far from the silver jewelry that is perceived as typically Swedish. Yet these artists link contemporary jewelry to the rich heritage of work in silver. Their jewelry is beautiful and unconventional, always wearable and with strong references to traditional jewelry. Ingrid Bärndal works with traditional goldsmithing techniques and says ”the things I can achieve with polypropylene I can not do with metal”. For Agnieszka Läs mer

Mycket nytt på gång

Published by Inger Wästberg

Tiden flyger. Förra vårens projekt ”Smyckekonst 2016” med Nationalmuseums utställning ”Open Space – Mind Maps” i Kulturhuset blev en framgång. Samtidigt som den pågick kunde besökare på 21 ställen i Stockholm ta del av den spännande samtida smyckekonsten. Under senhösten samlade jag igen de sex museerna som varit med under projektet, Svenskt Tenn och Konstfack för en uppföljande diskussion. Alla var entusiastiska och ville göra en ny satsning på smyckekonst 2018. Så kommer att ske i mars efter den stora utställningen Schmuck i München. Jag har själv åtagit mig att igen göra en utställning till Svenskt Tenn. Projektet väckte internationell uppmärksamhet och jag har därigenom fått flera olika uppdrag som jag kommer att ägna mig åt under våren. Först två juryuppdrag: ADA Amberif Design Award 2017 i Gdansk i februari och Preziosa Young Contest där resultatet kommer att visa under FJW, Florence Jewellery Week i slutet av våren. Där gör jag också en mindre utställning och håller en föreläsning på Le Arti Orafe Jewellery School. Det italienska intresset har också lett till en utställning – Läs mer

Contemporary Swedish Art Jewellery

Published by Inger Wästberg

Moving back to Sweden, I began to study art history and received a master’s degree. I chose to concentrate my writings on contemporary Swedish art jewelry. In the fall of 2013, I published my book, Contemporary Swedish Art Jewellery. ” Contemporary Swedish Art Jewellry is a far cry from what is perceived as typically Swedish. Today’s jewellery artists engage with and reflect on problems in society using a material vocabulary that goes far beyond precious metals and gemstones. This book explores how art jewellery has taken its rightful place in the world of contemporary art. Jewellery historian Inger Wästberg has produced a volume that serves as a reference source for curators, collectors and other artists. Thirty-one Swedish jewellery artists are represented from the 1990s to today, with an introduction by Inger Wästberg and a foreword by David Revere McFadden, chief curator at the Museum of Arts and Design i New York City. ” Three exhibitions, with the book as the starting point, have been curated by Sofia Björkman in Munich, Båstad and Gothenburg. See more Läs mer

Art Jewelry at the
National Museum 2016

Published by Inger Wästberg

Almost 30 years ago, the exhibition “Den internationella smyckekonsten – Nya Smycken New Jewellery” (The International Art Jewellery – New Jewellery New Jewellery) at the Kulturhuset in Stockholm. It presented a new art jewelry that grew in Holland, England and Germany. Jewelry had gone from being purely decorative and a status symbol. The jewelry that was shown at the Kulturhuset represented a changed perception, jewelry associated with artistic content and expression. Communication was pivotal and the new jewelry stood in contrast to the minimalistic and modernistic artistic idiom that characterized Swedish art jewelry, after the war. Art jewelry has successively made great strides towards other visual art. Education in art jewelry at the Academy of Design and Crafts (HDK) in Gothenburg was meaningful. There, in 1996, the first professorship in art jewelry, in the Nordics, was established. The 2004 name change of the education at Konstfack from Metal Design to Ädellab (precious lab), also sent a signal. In summary, art jewelry has strongly developed and Swedish jewelry artists, to a great degree, are part of Läs mer