Who will win the 2019 Salzburg Eligius Award for Body Jewelry and Jewelry Objects? The award, named for the patron saint of goldsmiths, was initiated in 2005 and is being offered this year for the sixth time. The exhibition ELIGIUS AWARD 2019: Jewelry Art in Austria, presented by the MAK in cooperation with Kunst im Traklhaus, Salzburg, provides an opportunity to preview candidates’ work and affords an insight into the contemporary Austrian jewelry art scene.

The 13 positions that are being presented from 6 to 24 March in the MAK FORUM include unusual experiments with materials, modified ready-mades discovered in nature or in private collections, and works inspired by personal experiences or past epochs by Andrea Auer, Gunda Maria Cancola, Veresa Eybl, Andrea MAXA Halmschlager, Paul Iby, Beatrix Kaufmann, Theresa Macourek, Martina Mühlfellner, Viktoria Münzker, Izabella Petrut, Konstanze Prechtl, Birgit Schlarmann, and Petra Zimmermann. The objects’ wearability is demonstrated by photographs projected onto large screens in the exhibition.

The artists were nominated by an international jury of three: Giampaolo Babetto (Jewelry Artist) Cornelie Holzach (Director, Pforzheim Jewellery Museum), and Anne-Katrin Rossberg (Curator, MAK Metal Collection and Wiener Werkstätte Archive). The awards ceremony takes place on 16 May in the Traklhaus in Salzburg, where the exhibition may be seen until 6 July, before in the fall it moves to the Pforzheim Jewellery Museum.