The fourth edition of Artisan Awards 2021, the country’s premier jewellery design competition, organised by the GJEPC, has completed two rounds of judging – the technical and first sketch round.
This year, despite the unfavourable conditions, a total of 586 entries were received, including international entries from Japan, USA, Taiwan, Russia, Egypt, Abu Dhabi, Australia.
The Artisan Awards have always followed an unbiased and stringent judging process consisting of three rounds. This year, the first round involved scrutinising the sketches by two renowned figures of the industry, Vikram Singh, the Creative Head of Walking Tree, and IIGJ Senior Faculty Sushma Kalzunkar Sawant, who chose nearly 100 entries for the first round.
The eminent jury for the next round included Fashion Designer James Ferreira, Jewellery Influencer Katerina Perez, Anjali Gaekwar, Country Head – India, Christian Louboutin, and Tina Tahiliani Parikh, Owner and CEO,Ensemble, decided on 31 finalists from the three categories.
These pieces will now be realised and the third round of judging will take place early next year.
The main theme for the 2021 edition is Reinventing Vintage. This theme is further subdivided into three categories: Victorian, Temple and Japanesque jewellery. The Artisan Awards hope to celebrate the revival of these eternal design eras and will inadvertently chronicle the new design epoch thrust upon us by the pandemic.
The sub-theme Victorian Jewellery takes its name from the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), and focuses on The Romantic Period of this reign (1837-1860).
The second theme, Temple Jewellery, originated in South India, during the Chola dynasty reign. These ornaments were originally created to adorn deities and idols in the temples of the South.
Finally, the Japanesque Jewellery focuses on Shakudō, a gold content alloy that was used to create ornamental bits for katana, or swords. Centuries later, the use was expanded to include lifestyle items like vases, boxes and jewellery.
Here’s what the judges had to say after they selected the finalists:
Katerina Perez, Founder & Editor in Chief, Katerinaperez.com
I liked it how the participating designers explored their creativity and didn’t limit themselves to only traditional jewellery materials. Pretty much every sketch in the competition stood out and exemplified how one can still push the boundaries of jewellery design.
Tina Tahiliani Parikh, Owner and CEO, Ensemble, India
It was interesting to see some participants really stretch themselves to accommodate the theme and come up with something original. In every category, there were a few renditions that truly stood out.
Anjali Gaekwar, Country Head – India, Christian Louboutin
The Artisan by GJEPC is a great initiative because it discovers new talent and gives them a chance to shine. Overall, I was happy to see that most of the entries were aligned with the three genres of Japanesque, Temple and Victorian. Being a jewellery addict, I’m keen to see the final creations of the sketches that we have selected.
James Ferreira, Fashion Designer
Some entries really stood out well as the designers played with the theme and took it out of context in interesting ways, which is what, I guess, The Artisan is looking for. I’d say, technically, the entrants were more aware of jewellery design than most fashion designers are in their field; and that is a good thing.