Handwerk & Design 2024

Special shows Schmuck, Exempla and Talente, international galleries, schools and lots of handicrafts.

Recurring annually since 2008, Handwerk & Design at the International Craft Fair in Munich has distinguished itself as the preeminent forum for creative craftsmanship. The special shows Exempla, Schmuck and Talente in Hall B1, framed by jewelry galleries exhibiting in the context of the Frame concept, attract aficionados and experts from around the globe. With Schmuck and the associated Herbert Hofmann Prize, the International Craft Fair has established what is arguably the most important international benchmark for the development of contemporary jewelry art.

In the “Living workshops” of Exempla, Bettina Speckner can be seen at work alongside Georg Dobler. © Bettina Speckner.

In “Living Workshops” on 640 square meters of floor space at Exempla 2024, roofers, stone sculptors, stonemasons and jewelry artists will demonstrate the extraordinary variety of artifacts that can be crafted from natural stone. Visitors can learn about techniques and forms of pavestone laying and can find out how old cathedrals, stone walls or the limestone slab roofs of the last remaining Jura houses around Eichstätt are preserved. The diverse topics even include natural stone charging stations for electric vehicles and stone houses that require no further insulating materials. The spectrum of natural stone ranges from local granite, through Elbe sandstone and Jura limestone from Solnhofen, to marble from South Tyrol, the processing of which will be demonstrated by students. The Museum Mineralogia Munich will show some of its collection’s most beautiful specimens. And Georg Kremer will explain how he transforms minerals into pigments, which he distributes from Aichstetten in the Allgäu region to artists and craftsmen all over the world. 

Necklace by Georg Dobler. Brown quartz, blackened silver. © Georg Dobler.

The stone sculptor Jo Kley and the jewelry artists Georg Dobler and Bettina Speckner were selected for the “Living Workshops” (see also Collectors’ Choice). Techniques for processing gemstones will be demonstrated by graduates from the Department of Design, Jewelry and Gemstones at Trier University of Applied Sciences, which is based in Idar-Oberstein. Exempla is organized by the Chamber of Crafts for Munich and Upper Bavaria, for the first time under the direction of Barbara Schmidt. 

As in previous years, there will be numerous exhibitions at the Jewelry Week in Munich and the surrounding area parallel to the IHM (International Craft Fair).

Jewelry artist Bettina Dittlmann has been devoting herself to the vessel for some time now. She has been making a bowl every day since summer 2023. In the exhibition “Nicht nichts – aber viel” [Not nothing – but a lot], 200 bowls forged from 0.1 mm thin copper or fine silver can be seen. (Bayerischer Kunstgewerbeverein e.V., Pacellistraße 6-8, February 23 to April 6, 2024).

  • Munich Trade Fair Center
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