As part of the 2nd Lisbon Contemporary Jewellery Biennial, we continue the meeting and exhibition of schools, which, like the 1st edition, takes place at the facilities of Xabregas do Ar.Co – Centro de Arte e Comunicação Visual. The challenge was launched to 5 European schools with different approaches to Contemporary Jewellery. Students were asked to work freely under the title “Political Jewels and Jewels of Power”, the theme of this event, enabling the creation of unprecedented dialogues between the young participants. The selection of works will be presented for the first time on June 28th, the date of the meeting at Ar.Co between students and teachers from these institutions. From a global perspective, the exhibition will document the eclecticism and originality that make up the discipline of Contemporary Jewellery.

Participants: Ar.Co – Center for Art and Visual Communication (PT), Alchimia Contemporary Jewelery School (IT), Central of Saint Martins – University of the Arts (UK), Eesti Kunstiakadeemia (EE), Konstfack - University of Arts, Crafts and Design (SE), PXL-MAD – School of Arts Hasselt (BE), Sint Lucas Antwerpen Studio Sieerad (BE).

Ar.Co – Center for Art and Visual Communication — Catarina Silva, director of the Jewellery Department and professor. Regular three-year course. Option for further development by applying for an Individual Project, Advanced Visual Arts Course or other. It is intended that students progressively acquire, through practical training, technical knowledge of Jewelery in its diversity of expressions, traditional and current. The program has a multidisciplinary nature and this experience is accompanied by an indispensable reflection and learning about the history and evolution of this ancestral form of artistic expression. The development of an authorial language is promoted, the result of both joint and individual questioning about Jewellery, its symbolic webs and the value attributed to jewellery in the panorama of contemporary art.

Alchimia. School of Contemporary Jewelry – Lucia Massei Director and Tutor BFA I and Sanaa Khalil, Tutor BFA II. David Clarke, MFA I tutor, and Evert Nijland, MFA II tutor.Alchimia is one of the few schools worldwide that is exclusively dedicated to the study of contemporary jewellery: The school has a unique location in the heart of Florence, in Italy, known as the center of the largest concentration of works of art and museums in the world. Alchimia offers Academic Programs, from beginners to advanced students: the Bachelor of Fine Arts, specializing in Contemporary Jewellery and Jewellery Design offers a complete and comprehensive immersion in contemporary jewellery and design with just 12 students per year and the Master of Fine Arts , with a specialization in Contemporary Jewellery and Cultural Identity that develops over a period of two years with the aim of expanding and deepening the student's knowledge and skills and generating greater critical understanding with a maximum of 8 students per year. Alchimia encourages its students to improve their talents. Its focus is based on the review and adoption of traditional techniques and carefully selected materials, combined with experimental and innovative design approaches, teaching students how to transform ideas and research paths into jewelry and design objects, offering personalized guidance and assessment to the throughout the course of students' academic years

Central Saint Martins – University of the Arts — Giles Last, director of the Bachelor of Jewellery Design Course and professor. The Bachelor of Jewellery Design at Central Saint Martins is a three-year, full-time course, with the possibility of a year of industry internship between the second and third years. This course offers a stimulating learning environment in central London, in which innovation, originality and exploration are encouraged and developed. Students explore a variety of approaches to the discipline of jewellery, creating work that questions the position, role and materiality of jewelery in a contemporary context. An awareness of cultural issues relevant to jewellery design and an investigation into the ethical implications of jewellery making are also important considerations. Graduates of the BA in Jewellery Design are equipped with a wide range of skills in handmaking and traditional techniques, material exploration, design and problem solving, computer-aided design, critical thinking and communication skills. The course focuses on visual awareness, research, observation and experimentation. Drawing and making models are considered important tools for investigating and communicating ideas. Participants — to be confirmed

Eesti Kunstiakadeemia — Piret Hirv, director of the Department of Jewellery and Metals and associate professor; Nils Hint, associate professor; Urmas Lüüs, assistant professor, Eve Margus, assistant professor. The Estonian Academy of Arts is the only institution in Estonia that trains professionals in the fields of jewellery and blacksmithing at bachelor's and master's levels. Our goal is to provide students with general knowledge in the humanities; develop your skills in the visual arts; their skills of self-expression in the arts of jewellery and blacksmithing and also, equip them with knowledge and skills for specialized work, developing their talents and creative thinking. The faculty members of the department of jewellery and blacksmithing are active artists, who actively show their work in Estonia and abroad, participate in specialised projects, deal with professional development, write and publish articles and books, and participate, as experts, on panels and decision-making bodies. Generally, the focus in design is on exclusive jewellery, and in blacksmithing, on architectural details and monumental objects of art. The people who significantly shape our environment must be more than simple artisans, but professional artists and designers, who can be equal partners with architects and interior designers.

Konstfack University for the Arts, Craft and Design — Konstfack is Sweden's largest arts, crafts and design university. Since 1844, a wide range of professionals have been trained in these areas, as well as teachers of arts and studies. Artistic and scientific education/research is carried out, and the university currently has around 900 students and 200 staff. Bachelor's program in Jewelery and Corpus (hollow parts): Ädellab / Faculty: Beatrice Brovia, senior lecturer in jewelry, head of the bachelor's program; Karolina Hägg, lecturer; Magnus Liljedahl, lecturer; Sissi Westerberg, senior lecturer at Corpus; Sarah Vedel Hurtigkarl, lecturer; Lauro Höring, lecturer. The Bachelor's degree program Jewelery and Corpus: Ädellab provides knowledge in the jewelry and corpus disciplines, and aims to prepare students for practice in an international field. The thematic area Corpus It has its roots in goldsmithing, in objects of use and their diverse possibilities and contextualizations. Jewelry is investigated based on goldsmithing traditions and material cultures. Based on the program's workshops, education is imbued with critical thinking and seeks to encourage students, through their practices, to test existing structures and investigate the potential of jewelry and corpus in relation to social, ethical and artistic issues . Throughout the three years of training, students explore different approaches, methods, theories, contexts, progressively deepening their practices.

Master's program in CRAFT! — Faculty: Agnieszka Knap, senior crafts professor, head of the master's program / Anders Ljungberg, crafts professor with specialization in jewelry and corpus, Anna Mlasowsky, professor of ceramics and glass, Maja Gunn, professor of textiles, Andrea Peach professor crafts teacher, specializing in the history and theory of crafts. CRAFT! offers an international master's program in some of the best-equipped workshops in Europe. Students develop their knowledge, while having the opportunity to expand and deepen their skills and position their work in a contemporary field of crafts. The program is characterized by social involvement anchored in the understanding that crafts can exist between and beyond traditional borders. CRAFT! offers several specializations in textiles, ceramics and glass, jewelry and corpus. At CRAFT! Jewelry and Corpus students investigate how jewelry and the corpus can be translated into different practices with a focus on the present and future, rather than confirming already existing notions. CRAFT! Jewelery and Corpus contribute to this dialogue and offer the opportunity to develop strategies and tools for professional practice based on an individual project and its possibilities. The program prepares students for both professional careers and further studies at the doctoral level.

PXL-MAD – School of Arts Hasselt — Nedda El-Asmar, coordinator and teacher. Jewelery Design, Gold & Silversmithing at School of Arts PXL-MAD in Hasselt (Belgium) is an artistic and academic educational program consisting of three years of bachelor's degree and one year of master's degree. The department also offers a one-year international master's program and a pre-master's preparation program. We focus on material, conceptual and technical experimentation and research, with a constant interaction between thinking and doing. Through project-based learning, students become immersed in the world of jewelry and contemporary objects. The program emphasizes design methods, development of creativity and topics such as the usability of jewelry and the functionality of objects. Students learn to develop unique pieces and series of jewelry through diverse tasks, exploring both traditional crafts and cutting-edge digital techniques. In a dynamic and inspiring environment where concept and practice are well synchronized, students have the opportunity to deepen and explore their work through experimental artistic research. Students are continually encouraged and challenged to deepen their research skills to develop objects and jewelry as a means for artistic and narrative expression, as critical artefacts and cultural symbols that provoke communication. The expectation is that they will create both a mature set of works and a written document in which they report and reflect on their own artistic practice. By adopting this inquisitive attitude, students can situate themselves in relation to other artists and disciplines that create the context for their work. We regularly organize competitions for PhD scholarships, supported by MAD-Research (in collaboration with the University of Hasselt). Director of Department b: Nedda El-Asmar / Professors: David Huycke, An Jonckers, Lore Langendries, Audi Pauwels, Kitty Spaenjers, Anneleen Swillen, Sophia Vanderwalt and Karen Wuytens / Workshop managers: Hanneke Van Hage and Frederik Aerts / PhD researchers : Liesbet Bussche, Joani Groenewald, Maria Konschake, and Charlotte Vanhoubroeck 

Sint Lucas School of Arts Antwerpen — Hilde De Decker, teacher. "Studio Sieraad" is the jewelry department of Sint Lucas School of Arts in Antwerp. Here students investigate the specificity of jewelry in their artistic practice. They do so through a process-based working method in which research and experimentation are the source of inspiration. Analysis and reflection, the improvement of technical skills and theoretical discourse about what is happening in the sector, contribute to the development of a specific research methodology, aiming for an articulated and multidisciplinary reflection as a result. Furthermore, students determine the sociocultural environment in which the jewelry they make works and become capable of expressing themselves by adopting the references that give meaning to this specific artistic field.