Jewellery

Jewellery is an independent medium in applied art, and has very specific visual possibilities. Jewellery has its own visual language and is historically associated with the use of expensive materials, a tradition that is both broken and carried on by contemporary jewellery designers. Conventional materials, such as plastics and textile, and the use of new technologies are helping to redefine jewellery and the concept of value. Through this open approach to the discipline, jewellery making can be practised as a more autonomous profession in which the jewellery designer’s viewpoint and the content of the work determine a position within the discipline. In the Jewellery department of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, students explore the possibilities and scope of jewellery as a medium, with the aim of innovating and developing it. It is also possible to place greater emphasis on the design aspects of working with jewellery and to approach it as a product, or to work with objects that have a personal nature similar to that of jewellery.

Courses offered

Subject-related and technical supervision, visual research, 3D design, progress discussions (individually and in groups), techniques, workshops, guest lessons and lectures.

Study structure

First specialisation year

During the first specialisation year, you will primarily work on the basis of assignments, helping you to gain substantive, formal and technical experience.

Second specialisation year

During the second year, you will continue to work mainly on the basis of assignments. You will learn to understand the various views on the discipline, and you will be taught about the different methods of working.

Third specialisation year

In the third specialisation year, you will work towards the final examination. In addition to the visual work, the final examination will include a thesis. The examination will be concluded with a large exhibition by all of the Rietveld’s departments, held in the academy at the end of June, which will be open to the public.

Projects

While studying in the Jewellery Design department, you will regularly have the opportunity to display your work to the public, for example at a presentation, an exhibition, a school presentation, an open day or a symposium. Visit the Jewellery Design project page for an impression of work exhibited by Jewellery Design students in the last few years.

Theory

Visiting lectures of the Studium Generale is compulsory in the first specialisation year of the Jewellery Design programme. It is elective in the second and third year. The Studium Generale provides a general theoretical context concerning current themes in the contemporary international art world. The Studium Generale brings in prominent speakers from the Netherlands and abroad to give lectures. For more information, see Studium Generale

Work placement and exchange

A work placement at the end of the second specialisation year or the beginning of the third year is a compulsory part of the programme. Students may take part in exchange programmes during the second specialisation year, but this is not compulsory.