Jewels on display at the Mercati di Traiano

Rome, October 10, 2023

Five students from Accademia Italiana's course in Jewelry Design will be exhibiting their creations at the Mercati di Traiano for this edition of the Premio Incinque Jewels with the theme Second Life, identified with the search for an alternative universe, in this world or the virtual one. A reflection on the past aimed at reinterpreting the present and imagining the future, with the possibility of relying on a new technology that can unite, in a continuous contamination, tradition and innovation.

Thus Julianna Berdyn decided to create a second skin for women's bodies, hypersexualised in the contemporary, a sort of armor to be worn as a brooch to remind us that there is no other world, what we endure in this life sticks to us despite everything.

Negar Sanaei, originally from Iran, also works on the theme of the brooch and women's rights: the second life she dreams of for her country is represented by equal opportunities. Her jewel, made of silver, enamel, resin, gold foil, wood and mother-of-pearl, is a female figure with strongly symbolic elements: the eight circles recall the 8th of March, the triangles inserted in the skirt the injustices women fight against, the hair has an unconventional cut.

Francesca Pallaoro plays on duality in creating two similar but different earrings, each half of the other, each a metaphor for a different era and a different way of approaching life. Past and future dialogue using bronze and plexiglass as complementary languages.

Dong Ik Lim creates a jewel that is double in form and function, inspired by the world of fantasy and extracts, like in a virtual game, a bell that seems able to take flight at any moment, lighting up like a firefly. Metal, silicone and resin act as a casket for a small luminous bulb in this brooch with dreamlike features.

Camila Parente gives a second life to X-ray plates, transforming them into springs ready to open on the sides of the face like pendants. Falling, being hit, breaking and being reborn: Second Life is a new opportunity to make our life a real jewel.