The theme of the 7th International Biennial of Contemporary Jewellery and Metal Art METALLOphone 2024 is DON’T TELL ME STORIES. Sounds paradoxical — aren’t we encouraged to create and tell stories at every opportunity? Aren’t we saying that there is a story behind every object or phenomenon? But at the same time, don’t we feel an influx of stories, or rather a flood of stories? Words are needed when they add value, when they reveal, name, shape. But when words flood in like a tsunami, there is a real danger of drowning.
There is a huge difference between a story that enriches the perception and an artificial narrative that is covered with a string of empty words. In jewellery, there are many things that in themselves create value and experience. Minerals and stones, materials that want body and touch, natural and man-made shapes that attract the eye and do not ask for explanations. That’s why the Biennale asks — don’t tell stories that mean nothing. Tell what really matters, show what is necessary and what you feel immediately, what you want to touch, to experience and not to understand. Talk about what is behind the stories.
Participants
METALLOphone is harmonised by
Soul and curator
phD. Jurgita Ludavičienė
Architect
Simona Sigita Paplauskaitė
Designer
Lina Bastienė
Coordinator
Mažvydas Truklickas
Organisers
The Lithuanian National Museum of Art
Jewellery school-gallery Vilnensis
Partner
Vilnius Academy of Arts
The project is funded by
Lithuanian Council for Culture