Handwerk & Design [Craftsmanship & Design] will take place as usual in Hall B1 of the exhibition center from March 12 to 16, 2025, as part of the International Crafts Fair in Munich. Alongside individual workshops and designers, schools, artists’ associations and collectives will also be presenting themselves.
Gudrun Donner works at Minotaurus. The theme of this year’s Exempla is workshops for the performing arts. Photo Maximilian Mutzhas.
The special shows Exempla, Schmuck and Talents are organized by the Chamber of Crafts for Munich and Upper Bavaria under the direction of Barbara Schmidt. Talents offers young designers up to 35 years of age the opportunity to present their work to an international audience. From glass to textiles and ceramics to paper and wood, all conceivable areas of craftsmanship are represented. What counts here are fresh ideas, surprising explorations of materials, thinking differently, a spirit of research and crossing boundaries.
Focus on art jewelry
The traditional focus at Handwerk & Design is on art jewelry. The special exhibition Schmuck presents innovative works from the field of artistic jewelry. The highlight is the presentation of the Herbert Hofmann Prize. Artists, gallery owners, collectors and jewelry enthusiasts from all over the world travel to the event, because for more than 65 years, innovative works of artistic jewelry have been exhibited here.
Nevin Arig, participant in the special exhibition Schmuck. Brooch from the series This is not a Selfie. © Nevin Arig.
The curator of Schmuck 2025 is Dr. Jurgita Ludavičienė from the Lithuanian National Museum of Art in Vilnius. From around 800 applications and more than 50 countries, the art historian and jewelry expert has put together an exhibition of over 60 participants at the highest international level.
Jewelry that you rarely see. Rasa Vil Jewelry, selected for the special exhibition Schmuck in 2025. © Justina Rau.
A special attraction and supplement to “Schmuck” are the booths of “Frame”. Here, international galleries present the works of their artists primarily in art jewelry.
Astonish, GEDOK and Jewelry Links
The exhibition area of Handwerk & Design is 11,000 square meters. The collective Astonish, an international group of seven women who met in the traditional jewelry city of Idar-Oberstein and who showcase stones of all kinds in their award-winning jewelry, has been a fixture for many years.
GEDOK Munich also has a regular place at Handwerk & Design. For almost 100 years, the association has been promoting women working in the arts from a wide range of fields. A selection of their work in the field of arts and crafts can be seen at the fair, for example, paper bags by Maria Verburg or illuminated objects by Gertrud Hahn.
New to the show is Jewelry Links, a Turkish collective that reinterprets traditional jewelry using unconventional materials. Of flowers and brooches: jewelry between tradition and innovation.
Craftsmanship for the Performing Arts
Exempla is the largest of the special shows. This year, it is dedicated entirely to the world of the stage and shows the indispensable role of craftsmanship in the performing arts. From stage technology and acoustics to the literal boards that mean the world, from the hand-carved masks of Japanese NOH theater to paper theater.
The world of the stage at this year’s Exempla, a special exhibition of Handwerk & Design in Munich. Sirene by Luna Kaiser. Photo Maximilian Mutzhas.
A glimpse into the decoration workshops of the Bavarian State Opera. Production of the stage design for the ballet Adam is. © Josef Greckl.
In the living workshops of the Exempla, visitors can experience first-hand how stage sets, costumes and masks are created. The special shows are supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK).
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