Call for exhibition – Fragility

PURPOSE / THEME

ALLIAGES (Contemporary Art Jewelry collective, non-profit organization) organizes an exhibition to be held during the Schmuck 2026 event in Munich (March 4th-7th, 2026) and more destinations afterwards (April to November 2026). The exhibition theme is « Fragility » and each artist may submit their own vision of the subject.

« Fragility » in its myriad forms, is an intrinsic condition of existence. Fragility is more than a condition, it’s a profound human experience. This exhibition delves into the intimate landscapes of personal vulnerability and the complex, often permeable boundaries of social existence.

APPLICATION / SUBMISSION DEADLINE & FEE / SELECTION / ENTRY CRITERIA

APPLICATION

Artists working in Contemporary Art Jewelry at any level (students, new graduated & established) can apply for this exhibition with a maximum of 2 finished pieces. All propositions must be a one-of-a-kind artworks done in the last 5 years, never shown with ALLIAGES and preferably not shown in previous Jewelry Weeks events.  Applications must imperatively be sent via the dedicated form on the ALLIAGES website and must contain all requested data. Any other form of application will not be accepted or taken into consideration. If data sent is wrong or incomplete, the application will automatically be canceled.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE

The deadline to apply is Sunday November 2nd, 2025, midnight. Applications sent after the deadline will not be accepted. Only one application per artist will be accepted (first application sent).

APPLICATION FEE

A fee of 25 € (twenty-five Euros) will be requested for the application when the application is sent until Friday October 24th, 2025. A fee of 35 € (thirty-five Euros) will be requested if the application is sent as from Saturday October 25th, 2025 midnight. To have a valid application, the payment must have to be done the same date as the application (payment and application must have the same date). The application fee paid is not reimbursed for any reason.

SELECTION

All applicants will be notified before mid December 2025 of the curator’s choice via email as to whether their application has been successful or not. The list of selected artists will be published on the ALLIAGES social media accounts and website. The selected pieces will be displayed at Schmuck event 2026 and further destinations until November 2026 (**). The exhibition is curated by Juan Riusech, contemporary art jeweler, curator and founder of ALLIAGES.

ENTRY CRITERIA

Each artist may freely present their vision of the theme with a free choice of media, materials and size. Works presented must be original and one-of-a-kind, never shown with ALLIAGES and preferably not shown in previous Jewelry Weeks events. You may submit up to 2 completed  pieces  and they can be for sell or just for exhibition (not for sale). If you submit with 2 pieces, both can be selected or just only one piece.

IMAGE GUIDELINES

• We require 4 different views of each piece that you are submitting: 1 frontal view of the entire piece, 1 back view of the entire piece, 1 angle view of the entire piece and 1 of the piece being worn to get an idea of the scale of said piece;
• The images must be preferably 2.000px/side with a resolution of 75-90dpi;
• The maximum size for each image is 2Mb;
• Your work must have a total white background on the image sent (front, back & angle views); 
• Ensure that your piece is well centered in your image and is completely in focus, not blurry;
• Rename your image files in the following way: your-name_title_number-of-view. Do not use any spaces in the filename; you may use dash (-) or underscore (_) instead;
• Only .jpg .jpeg files are accepted.

TEXT GUIDELINES

Please include a description of the work you are applying with and referring to the subject of the exhibition (statement). We ask that it be no more than 1.200 characters (including spaces and punctuation) and written in English

EXHIBITION FEE

The selected artists will pay a participation fee of 75 € (seventy-five Euros) for the Munich Event & 35-50 € (thirty-five to fifty Euros) for each further destination. The fees for exhibiting will cover the costs of the venue hire, shipping of works between venues, display and promotional material (such as flyers, online advertising, etc) and any other costs incurred in order to promote, prepare, install and exhibit the show in the venues. Any delay in the payment implies the exclusion of the artist from the exhibition and all further destinations. All taxes or payment charges for this payment fee will be at the artist’s charge. Fees are not reimbursed for any reason.

WORKS PRESENTED / TRANSPORT

Each artist has total freedom to make their artwork, however organizers may refuse said work if it proves in any way to have a detrimental or discriminatory message (e.g. racism, hate, sexism, etc …) or if the quality of execution is deemed insufficient.

The selected artworks must be delivered at least 20 days before the opening date in Munich (*). Any work received after this deadline will not be presented.

The pieces sent to Alliages must be the same as those sent in the application and selected by the curator.

DELIVERY

Each artist will send or deliver their work to Alliages at their own expense; this includes any additional taxes or fees that may incur (e.g. custom taxes). The parcel’s total weight cannot exceed 5 kg.

RETURNS

All the returns will be made after the last destination, in December 2026 or January 2027. No returns will be done before the last destination for any reason.

The returns will be done using the original packaging sent by the artist and via “La Poste”, the French mail-post service. Please note that they will have a tracking service but they will not be insured or have any declared value. The full cost of return is at artist’s expense, including mandatory incurring taxes (e.g. custom taxes) or expenses. Should the artist wish to collect their work in person or make their own arrangements for a courier, the artist will be the responsible of the parcel pick-up organization and its cost.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Works are not insured by Alliages at any moment and for any reason (reception, preparation, installation, exhibition or transportation). Each artist must have their own insurance at their own expense for all the period of the exhibition. The organizers assume no liability or responsibility for the artist’s work(s) at any moment and this during all the exhibition period and for any reason.

The artists will respect the Internal Rules of Alliages, Schmuck and all future organizers and structures involved during all the exhibition period.

CONSENT

The selection decisions are irrevocable. In being selected, it is understood that each artist allows Alliages to reproduce all media and data sent for the purpose of promoting the exhibition, in any format. All media and data sent by the artist can be used by Alliages for further promotion of Contemporary Art Jewelry in general. Assignment of the right of media reproduction granted by the artist is non-exclusive, non-transferable, unlimited territory for the distribution of reproductions.

MISCELLANEOUS

All communications between the organizers and the artists will be in English.

In sending through an application, it is understood that the artist approves the exhibition conditions.

APPLICATION KEY DATES

• Application : November 2nd, 2025 midnight
• Short list : Mid December 2025

APPLICATION FEE

• 25€ (twenty-five Euros) if application sent until Friday October 24th midnight
• 35€ (thirty-five Euros) if application is sent as from Saturday October 25th until the due date

SHOW DATES PREVIEWED

• March 4-7th 2026 : Munich / Fee of 75 € (seventy-five euros)
• April/May 2026 : Valencia Melting Point ? (*)
• June 2026 : Cagnes Jewellery Week (*)
• October-November 2026 : Lalabeyou Madrid (*)
• More destinations might be added between May & September 2026

(*) Dates schedule will be sent to the selected artists. Each destination after Munich has a fee of 35-50€ (thirty-five to fifty euros)

To be eligible for jurying, you must first pay the application fee. PayPal will then e-mail you a payment confirmation code which you will need to put in the appropriate field of the application form.

IMPORTANT: Your submission will not be accepted until your PayPal payment is received. Please don’t forget that the payment date must coincide with the application date to be eligible for jurying. Before paying the application fee, please verify that you have all the elements requested for the application, and in the way and format that they are requested. Fees are not reimbursed for any reason.

Application Fee for FRAGILITY : 25 EUR

Please take the time to thoroughly read this whole page before submitting your application.

To be eligible for jurying, you must pay first and use the confirmation payment code that will be emailed to you by Paypal in the appropriate field in the application form below. Your submission will not be accepted until your payment is received. You can pay the application fee in the section 2 above.

THIS APPLICATION FORM HAS BEEN TESTED IN ALL PLATFORMS (Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, Smartphone and Tablet). FOR UNKNOWN REASONS, THIS APPLICATION FORM MAY NOT WORK WITH A SPECIFIC COMPUTER OR BROWSER. IF YOU EXPERIENCE ERRORS DESPITE ALL FIELDS  BEING OK, OR THE FORM SPINS FOR A LONG TIME AND THE APPLICATION IS NOT SENT, PLEASE TRY OPENING THIS PAGE WITH ANOTHER BROWSER (for example, if you are using a Mac and Safari browser and it is impossible to send despite everything looks correct, try to submit with the Chrome or Firefox browsers). IF IT STILL DOES  NOT WORK, TRY TO OPEN IT IN ANOTHER COMPUTER, TABLET OR SMARTPHONE. BEFORE THIS, PLEASE VERIFY YOU FILES SIZES & NAMES ARE CORRECT AND THAT YOU HAVE FILLED ALL THE MANDATORY FIELDS.

(*) Mandatory Field (**) Mandatory Field if you submit a 2nd work Once the form has been submitted, you will receive an email with a copy of your application. Please check your spam or junk mail folder if you do not receive a message within 30 minutes of your submission. If there are any errors in your form, the incorrect fields will be highlighted in red and stated below each incorrect field. Please check, correct and resend. DO NOT CLICK SEVERAL TIMES ON THE SUBMIT BUTTON.

If your application does not send, this means that something has gone wrong with your data input. Here’s what could have gone wrong:
– You may have missed out on a mandatory field (field marked with a « * »)
– One of your texts (experience, statement or captions) is too long, please check the counter below each field
– Your images are too large (Please check the « Image Tips » & the « FAQ & TIPS » Sections)
– Your files (portrait or jewel images) have spaces in the file name (do not use spaces in your photo filenames, please use Dash « – » or Underscore « _ » symbols instead)
– You may not have ticked the final mandatory field confirming the « Terms & Conditions ».

If you experience a repeated issue with the Application form, and you have checked all points above and you are sure your application is right, please write us using the form below (section below : « Do you have a question »).

Who can participate ?

Any artist who makes contemporary art jewellery may apply, whether you have years of experience or a degree in art or not.

I’m a newbie, can I send my application ?

Of course you can! This exhibition is open to all; newly established makers, students, graduates and established makers alike. We based our final selection on the quality of the work submitted, but on your experience or CV. 

I’m student, can I send my application ?

Of course you can! We accept applications from students at any level.

Are group or brand applications are allowed ?

Unfortunately we are not able to accept group applications. Additionally we will not be able to accept applications from branded organisations. This exhibition is open to individual applications only.

I would like to submit one piece composed by several parts. They all are connected and it is important that the pieces be seen together. Is it possible to submit this group of multiple parts as one piece ?

No, you can apply with a maximum of 2 jewels.

Do all submitted pieces need to be for sale or can I apply just to show my work ?

The choice is yours. Our objective is to promote the art form of Contemporary Art Jewelry and share it with a wider audience. If your work is not for sale please let us know in your application. If your work is selected, we will be sure to include it in the exhibition clearly labelled as ‘Not for sale’. Equally, should you have more than one piece selected, you may choose to have some work for sale and others not. 

If I am selected, when and how will my work be returned to me ? Will I have to wait a long time ?

All pieces that aren’t sold will be returned to their artist once the exhibitions are finished. Packaging and shipping may take several weeks and will be at artist expense. We will use a basic and simple postage, so should you require something more secure, please do let us know once the exhibitions are finished and we will be happy to comply with your request. Please note however that this will need to be arranged by the artist and will be at your own expense.

If I need my work back for another exhibition or event, can I remove it from this exhibition at any point and have it returned ?

Unfortunately you can’t. Once you submit your work for this application and if selected, you have the choice to decline your acceptance. However, once you accept our offer, you are committing your work to be in this exhibition in all the destinations. 

Can I send my application other format ? For example, could it be emailed, sent via WeTransfer, Dropbox or similar ?

Sadly not; the only way to apply for this exhibition is by using the application form on the Alliages website. This guarantees that we have all necessary information that we need in order to fully consider your application. Please don’t forget to carefully read the instructions about submitting images: format, size, caption, statement, etc … If these instructions are not followed, sadly your application will not be taken into consideration.

I made a mistake on my first application and need to amend it; can I apply again ?

Sadly not; we will only accept the first application received from each artist. This is why we suggest that you read through all of the Terms & Conditions and FAQ & Tips before submitting your application.

I want to submit 2 pieces. Do I need to send all pieces in the same application ? Or can I submit one piece per application ?

We will only accept one application per artist, so please be sure to include both pieces in your first submission. 

I’m not sure I will be able to finish a piece in time before the submission date; can I send a draft or work-in-progress ?

Unfortunately not; on this occasion we are only accepting finished piece for this submission.

Is all information of the CV and General Statement mandatory ? Why are there so many lines and fields to fill ? Why only in English ?

The Artist CV Experience information and General Artist Statement are not mandatory information. If you have the time to fill it, it will be a way to know you better and to have some information to publish on our website and socials about you. Having the information split in different fields and sections (year/description) allows us to present all the artists in the same way and have coherent information on our website. Having all texts in English for this exhibition allows us to present the show as a whole.

What do you mean by « Statement for this exhibition » ? Why does my text to be in English ? And why this text is limited to 1.200 characters ?

In asking you for a “Statement for this exhibition” we asking for you to write a statement that relates the piece(s) you are submitting to the chosen theme of the exhibition. Your text must be written in English, as the show will be presented to an international audience, both online and in physical spaces, where English will most likely be the common language. Having all texts in English for this exhibition allows us to present the show as a whole and respect each artist’s concept more honestly. The limitation of characters in your text allows for more consistency among all submitted texts.

Is all information in the image « captions » mandatory ?

Some information requested is mandatory : type of jewel, year, title, dimensions, materials, techniques & artist price. This allow us to present all the pieces in an equal basis for all the artists. You have 3 optional fields : the name of the photographer (if needed), the weight of the piece and an « other info » field in case that you need put some extra information.

Why do I have to rename my images in a specific name ? What happens if I name them differently ?

All images must be labelled in the same way; this allows us to manage your images better and more easily. We ask that you rename your image files in the following way: 

your-name_title_number-of-view 

To separate words, please use a dash (-) and to separate lines, please use an underscore (_)

Please do not use any spaces in the filename; you may use dash (-) or underscore (_) instead.

If your image files are not labelled in this way, we will have to discard your application, as we will not be able to find the images on the database.

What is the « Artist Price » requested ? Do I need to put it ?

The Artist Price is the amount you request in the case that the piece is sold, it is the amount that you will receive. The gallery commission will be added to this price.

You do not need to put a price if your piece is not for sale, in this case, you just put « NFS » (Not For Sale). If you put a price, this must be done in EUROS

What does the « Consent » condition mean ?

The first sentence of this condition means that you allow us to use your submitted images and texts to promote this exhibition at any point in our future communications.

The second sentence (“Assignment of the right of media reproduction granted by the ARTIST is non-exclusive, non-transferable, unlimited territory for the distribution of reproductions.”) means that the ARTIST remains the owner of their images at all times (non-transferable) but that they allow us to use it for communication & promotional purposes (non-exclusive).

How to know if the quality of my images is good enough or not ?

Here is some advice of how to take an acceptable photo of your work:

We ask that your work be photographed against a white background with good lighting (the final photo sent must have a total white background, this for the front, back & side views); avoid using a flash as this may alter the natural colors of your work when photographed. Natural daylight can most often be the best and truest way to light an object in order to reflect the true colors in a representational image. Be sure to choose the correct lighting mode on your photographic device, for the same reasons stated above. 

Most cameras or photo editing software (such as Photoshop, Gimp, etc) will let you know the size of your image as well as the number of pixels (dpi); you can usually find this information in the image properties. 

For your image files to be accepted and to be sure that they fit in the maximum size authorized of 2MB, a definition of 75-90 dpi and a photo size of 2.000px/side is largely enough. If, despite making these adjustments, your image is still too heavy (more than 2Mb), you should be able to easily reduce it’s weight by using your usual photo editing software or a simple program like Paint, Gimp, Photoshop, etc.

Why must I pay an application fee ? Why is there an additional fee to pay if I’m selected ?

Alliages receive no funding or support from any state or private organisation; we work as a collective. This guarantees our freedom of choices in any and all decisions but also means that we don’t have a reserve of funding for shows and exhibitions. The founders of Alliages volunteer their time and experience without any financial gain, so when it comes to putting on a show or event, we ask for a modest application fee which enables us to finance it and promote your artwork. 

We ask that all exhibition costs (venue rentals, opening events, communications, flyers, or any other expense) be paid for by the selected artists; this allows us as organisers, to focus on promoting said artist’s work. For these reasons we are only able to promote artists who have paid these fees. All of the money collected from the application fees is used to promote contemporary art jewellery artists.

How do I pay the application fee ? And why do I pay this fee before submitting my application ?

We ask that all artists wishing to apply for this exhibition use our online application form found on this page. You will be directed to a PayPal page, where you will be able to pay with your PayPal account or any credit card. 

Paying your fee first allows us to better match the application with the payment. This is also why we ask you to put your PayPal payment reference in a specific field on the application form.

Why are there two different application fee amounts ?

We have 2 application fee amounts in order to spread out the number of applications received through our system. Over the years we have noticed that most applications are received over the last few days leading up to the final submission deadline; this leads to overloading the web server. In order to avoid this, we have set up a cheaper “early” application fee, which will go back to the regular application fee in the last week before the submission deadline. We hope that this will entice artists to apply a bit earlier than the final week and not overload our server.

If your application is ready to be submitted before the fee increases, we suggest that you apply earlier to avoid incurring this extra cost.

Do I need to pay the application fee on the same day that I submit my application

We recommend that you do. If you send your application in a different date that you have paid, this might not be accepted.

I have paid the application fee but finally I will send the application, can I be reimbursed ?

No, the application fee is not reimbursed for any reason. Before paying the application fee, please verify that you have all the elements requested for the application and in the way we ask for.

How should I package up my work to send ? Can I send my pieces by regular post ? Where do I have to send my works if I’m selected ?

You are welcome to send your work to us in any way that suits you best. Please do bear in mind though that regular postage will not always ensure that your work arrives safely or undamaged. When sending your work by mail or by carrier, we suggest that you take some precautions and send it as securely as you can. This way your items will arrive in perfect condition, ready to be exhibited. 

Cardboard boxes are always a safe bet when shipping work and ideally we suggest wrapping your pieces up in several layers of bubble wrap (or similar). If using a cardboard box, it’s also a good idea to pad out the box, so that your work doesn’t move about in the box during shipping.

The delivery address will be communicated to the selected artists at due moment.

Do I need to have my own insurance ?

Works are not insured by Alliages at any moment (reception, installation, exhibition, transport, etc …). We recommend that you arrange some form of insurance for when your work is in transit as well as for when it is in the show.

What happens if my work is selected but once received by it does not fit the selection criteria ?

It is possible that your work could be selected but once received, it does not fit with our selection criteria. This rarely happens but on the occasion that it has, it has been due to technical or construction issues. In these cases, your work will not be exhibited and will be returned to you at your own expense.

What happens if the piece(s) sent are not the same than sent as those submitted in my application ?

If you are selected for this exhibition, it will have been based on the images of the work you submitted. Should you send us anything other than what you submitted your work will not be shown and will be returned to you at your own expense. The application fee will not be refunded.