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| Prix Golay Creates Magic with Talismans | |
For the more than two decades of the Prix Golay pearl jewellery design competition, its contestants, young goldsmiths with fresh ideas as yet untainted by jaded perceptions of what the market demands, have created unconventional jewels that have flabbergasted or amazed those who saw them, based of course on the viewer's artistic perspective. This year's crop of entries however, simply enchanted them. |
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When
the contest organisers chose Talisman' as the theme for the 2005 competition,
even they did not imagine that it would "trigger such an avalanche
of ideas", as contest manager Stefan Bodmer said in his opening
comment at the Prix Golay 2005 award ceremony at Baselworld this April. |
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| Certainly, the young goldsmiths have created magic that entranced both the eyes and the emotions and thoroughly captivated the viewer. | |
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Conceived
by young minds which still retain the innocence of youth, that blurs
the distinction between fantasy and reality, they are state-of-the-art
executions that nevertheless have a strong foundation in sound vocational
training. |
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"Encouraging young talent is the essence of the contes'ts fascination," Stefan Bodmer pointed out. "They have reached a high level of craftsmanship, but they are not pressured by commercial considerations as yet, nor restricted by professional routine. Their creations seduce experienced goldsmiths as much as jewellery lovers in quest for the unusual," he said, |
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This year, the participants received 10 keshi pearls of various colours, to create a talisman, Their imagination took wing on the fancies of people of different cultures and their ideas of good luck charms. The members of the jury, though entirely enraptured by the results, nevertheless focused on objective considerations like innovation, technical quality and comfort in wearing the pieces, but still personal subjectiveness did take over when they evaluated the interpretation of the given theme, |
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In this respect, it was literally a feast for the eyes, the emotions and the intellect as each piece provided ample food for discussion and showed that the contestants truly understood the ultimate meaning of jewellery, to satiate the eyes and the heart with an abundance of bequty and meaning. |
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The entries were unveiled at Baselworld and will be featured at public exhibitions throughout the year with the creator's drawings and explanations accompanying the photographs as well as more detailed information on the contest. |
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| This exposure is designed to give the young contestants their first public showcase and hopefully a stepping stone to a future career. In addition to the keshi pearls, the personal certificate and the contest experience, each one of this year's participants also received a purchasing voucher of the value of CHF 50, offered by Artsupport in Zurich, suppliers of a comprehensive range of tools for goldsmiths. A nice gesture by a company that itself is very young. |
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The jury awarded six creations, which are two more than the norm. by having two winners six aequo share the Technical Prize and by attributing for the first time a Special Mention, the jury members found an elegant way of easing some of the pain they felt when eliminating interesting creations from the awards. |
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