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The Legnica Jewellery Festival SILVER ranks among Europe’s leading exhibitions of contemporary art jewelry. The international jewelry competition, which attracts several hundred artists from around the world each year, is the centerpiece of the festival. An international jury composed of renowned artists, professors, critics, experts, and jewelry collectors decides on the inclusion of pieces in the exhibition and the awarding of prizes. The subtitle of this year’s edition was EVERY BODY, and the theme appealed to a large number of jewelry artists. However, Sutnar Faculty student Klára Kocúriková did not get lost in the large international competition; on the contrary, she won the Award for creative courage and an uncompromising attitude, innovation, and a sense of humor. In an interview for INFO.zcu, she spoke about jewelry, trends, and her plans for the future.

Klára, congratulations on your success at the international festival in Legnica. Do you have any idea why the judges decided to award you this particular prize?
Thank you so much! I didn’t receive any specific feedback from the jury, so I can only go by the award’s name and the exhibition’s overall context. I think my work fits well with this award. It contains a personal perspective, a bit of irony, and also a certain uncompromising spirit. I appreciate the award all the more because I feel that the jury recognized exactly what was important to me in my work. This year’s festival theme was EVERY BODY, and the exhibition featured many powerful works that addressed the body, identity, or social stereotypes in various ways. My work probably stood out because it approaches the theme quite directly.

Please describe your piece of jewelry, the work titled “Crown of Beauty”. In your statement, you write that your work responds to the persistent stigma surrounding women’s hair. How should we interpret this? What kind of stigma does women’s hair represent?
Crown of Beauty is an object created from my own hair. I shaved it off myself and then used it as material. I also recorded this act on video, because for me it wasn’t just the resulting object that was important, but also the very gesture of getting rid of my hair. The work arose mainly from frustration, but also from irony. I draw on my own experience, but I also perceive similar pressure around me. From childhood, girls hear that hair is the “crown of beauty,” that long hair is feminine and beautiful, while short hair is too radical or masculine, or serves as a sign that “something is wrong” with a person. Hair can be cut, dyed, or changed, yet people use it to very quickly judge a person’s appearance, femininity, or overall “acceptability.” Moreover, hair loss isn’t necessarily voluntary. It strikes me as absurd that such a big deal is still made of hair. While short hair or buzzcuts are more common today than they used to be, reactions like “don’t cut your hair” or “you’ll regret it” still pop up all the time. That’s exactly what my work explores.

Is hair a rarely used material in jewelry making? Have you noticed any trends in this area in Legnica? If I’m not mistaken, this is a silver festival, so I would expect it to feature exclusively silver jewelry.
Hair has a strong historical association with jewelry. It appeared, for example, in keepsake or mourning jewelry, where it served as a very personal material, as a reminder of a specific person or relationship. Contemporary designer jewelry also works with it, still mainly as a personal material. It’s a material that’s present, but not entirely common. In Legnica, I noticed several pieces that used human hair. I wouldn’t necessarily see this as a trend, but rather as a response to this year’s theme, EVERY BODY, which naturally raised questions about the body. Although the festival is billed as a silver festival, the competition itself has no material restrictions. Artists can choose their materials based on their own concept. The most important thing is that the work responds to the theme of the given year. The connection to silver stems mainly from the place’s history and identity. Legnica and its surroundings have long been associated with the mining and processing of metals, and the prizes awarded to winners are silver granules. Silver is thus an important symbol for the festival.

Was this your first time in Legnica this year? What kind of experiences and connections do you gain from participating in international jewelry festivals?
Yes, this was my first time in Legnica this year, and it was a very powerful experience. What I enjoy most about international festivals is that, for a few days, you find yourself right in the heart of the contemporary jewelry scene. You see different approaches, materials, themes, and ways of thinking that you might otherwise only know from photographs or catalogs. Legnica also has a unique atmosphere. A relatively small city becomes a gathering place for jewelers from around the world for a few days. It’s a great opportunity to see the work in person, talk to people you might only know from social media, and connect more deeply with the jewelry scene beyond the Czech context. You gain a better understanding of where your own work fits into the broader international landscape. It’s inspiring, but also a bit of a challenge.

You’re studying a master’s degree in the Metalworking and Jewelry studio. Where did you come from, and how has your education at Sutnar helped you grow?
I’ve been at the Sutnar faculty for quite a few years now. (laughs) I started here in the bachelor’s program in Metal and Jewelry Design and then continued to the master’s program. Before that, I studied industrial design at a high school in Trenčín, Slovakia. But for me, it was too technical a field, and it didn’t fulfill me. Studying in the Metalworking and Jewelry studio taught me to look at the world through jewelry and, at the same time, to understand jewelry in a much broader sense than just as a decorative object. I began to perceive it as a medium that can convey an idea, an emotion, criticism, and even a personal statement. I think my perception of the world has become more sensitive. With every piece, I strive to push not only my own boundaries but also the boundaries of what jewelry can be. My studies helped me gain greater courage and confidence in my artistic expression.

What are your plans after you graduate?
After my final exams, I’d like to go abroad for a postgraduate internship. I’m not exactly sure what will happen after that, but I definitely want to stay in the field and continue working on my own projects. Our society has many issues that deserve attention, and if my work can contribute even a little to changing how we think about them, that’s a huge motivation for me.