Melting Points: Selected Topics in Jewellery and Metalsmithing in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

This course examines selected topics in the development of jewellery and metalsmithing during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It considers the shifting roles of the field within modernism, its transformation in response to technological, social, and cultural change, and its possible future directions. Organized around thematic case studies, each class presents makers, works, materials, and ideas that have contributed to the evolution of contemporary jewellery and metalsmithing. Particular attention is given to the relationship between the field and broader developments in art and design, as well as to the social, cultural, and economic contexts in which these practices emerge and operate.