PREZIOSA, Research Jewellery

Since 2005, PREZIOSA is the important exhibition dedicated to Research Jewellery, designed, organized and managed by LE ARTI ORAFE, the academy for contemporary jewellery based in Florence.


PREZIOSA 2011 will be housed in the "Tribune Galileo" at the Museum of “La Specola”, and presents a retrospective exhibition dedicated to Mari Ishikawa (Kyoto, 1964), Japanese artist transplanted to Germany and present their works in major museums and collections around the world, and the side exhibition PREZIOSA YOUNG 2011.

- Monologue. Parellel worlds of Mari Ishikawa, curated by Maria Cristina Bergesio.
The work of Mari Ishikawa expresses a deep fascination with the natural world. With a look full of charm, the artist observes nature and manages to infuse the magic in her photographs and her jewellery, as Moon Light Shadow, In The Shadow Of A Tree, Clouds.
The natural spectacle is experienced in its most intimate and small ravines, in the form of branches, the tangle of a shoot, the emergence of a delicate inflorescence. In her works throughout the poem takes the form of a feeling of nature as a living entity, palpitating, perpetual, and in her cycle of birth, growth, development.

- PREZIOSA YOUNG 2011
PY is a international competition/exhibition dedicated to young designers chosen for their individual research and the originality of their creations. This project was conceived and coordinated by Giò Carbone, Director of "Le Arti Orafe”, since 1985 Contemporary Jewellery School in Florence.
For the 2011’s edition, the Art historian Dr. Maria Cristina Bergesio was called to give a critical contribution for the catalogue and to be responsible for the selection of the participants.

Selected artists: Dana Hakim (Israel/Italy), Sam Hamilton (Ireland), Hanna Hedman (Sweden), Lisa Juen (China), Heejoo Kim (South Korea), Seoul-Gi Kwon (South Korea ), Marie Pendariès (Spain), Elena Ruebel (Germany).

The first selection was made by Maria Cristina Bergesio, which indicated the 30 finalists from among the 180 participants from all over the world.
The international panel in charge of choosing the eight winner artists met in February 2011, during the inhorgenta fair, and was composed by:
- Dr. Petra Hölscher, senior curator at the Neue Sammlung, Monaco Munich, Germany;
- Dr. Wolfgang Lösche, Leiter der Abteilung Messen und Austellungen, Handwerkskultur, Formgebungsberatung, Akademie für Gestaltung, Galerie Handwerk, Munich, Germany;
- Dr. Barbara Schmidt, Director of the Bildungszentrum für Gestaltung in Munich, Germany;
- The artist Helen Britton, Australia;
- Dr. Maria Cristina Bergesio, art critic, Florence, Italy

Side Events
FIRENZE PREZIOSA cooperate with FiorGen a non-profit organization (www.fiorgen.net) to create a benefit event that will raise funds to support research for early diagnosis of genetic and degenerative diseases.
The jewellery donated by the artists in the exhibition, other artists and friends of PREZIOSA, teachers, students and alumni of the school to support the FiorGen’s research, will be hosted from 1 to 9 October as part of the prestigious International Antiques Biennale , held in the Palazzo Corsini in Florence, and from 10 to 22 October at the Museum “La Specola”, along with PREZIOSA 2011.
The catalogue with pictures of objects created for FiorGen will be presented Oct. 5, during the opening night of PREZIOSA, and the auction will be conducted Oct. 22 in the beautiful “Hall of Skeletons” of the Museum La Specola.

Exhibition’s schedule

Curator                   Le Arti Orafe, Firenze; Dr. Maria Cristina Bergesio, Firenze
Opening                  October 5, 2011, 18:00;
Exhibition dates     Until October 23, 2011, from Tuesdays to Sunday, from 9.30 to 16.30 FREE ENTRY;
Exhibition venue    Museum La Specola, Via Romana, 9, Florence
Works on show      About 120 objects (artists’ and private collections);
Catalogues            Catalogue of the artist Mari Ishikawa, in English and German*, and PREZIOSA YOUNG 2011 catalogue,

                              in Italian and English
Conferences         Mari Ishsikawa, with critical introduction and presentation by Dr. Maria Cristina Bergesio, curator of the

                             exhibition: Thursday, October 5 at 17:00 am in the  "Hall of Skeletons", La Specola Museum.
Participation to the conference is free but places are limited, so it is recommended to register online http://www.preziosa.org/it/contatti.html

Updated information and photographic material:
+39 55 22 80 131 - preziosa@artiorafe.it

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