Nelson Jewellery Week
Meet the makers.
The Bench School for Jewellery
Meet the makers.
New Zealand's premier celebration of contemporary jewellery making. Held every two years in sunny Whakatū Nelson, Nelson Jewellery Week (NJW) is a buzzing, week-long celebration for jewellery makers, wearers, and lovers alike.
The festival brings together local and international talent for a diverse programme of exhibitions, hands-on workshops, artist talks, community projects, kids’ activities, and social events—all scattered throughout Nelson’s vibrant city centre. It’s a chance to connect, create, and explore the ever-evolving world of contemporary jewellery, right here in the creative heart of Aotearoa.
NJW was first launched in 2021 by Arts Council Nelson, sparked by a collaboration between Refinery ArtSpace and the Handshake Project, led by Peter Deckers and Hilda Gascard in Wellington. The Handshake Project’s 10th anniversary exhibition Chain Reaction inspired a broader platform for participation—out of which NJW was born.
RNZ: Nine To Noon | 10 April 2025
Nelson Jewellery Week begins today, bringing together makers, admirers and collectors for a week of workshops and masterclasses, floor talks and panel discussions, social events, and more than 35 exhibitions. Event director Kay van Dyk says there has been a decline and closure of tertiary-level craft and design schools around the country, which has had a big impact on the sector.
The Press | 8 April 2025
Artist Keri-Mei Zagrobelna always knew she had Whakatū whakapapa. But she might never have imagined that her work, an ongoing enquiry into ancestry and indigenous reclamation through jewellery, would sit within the same walls of the sacred hei tiki of rangatira Merenako, Zagrobelna’s tīpuna.
RNZ: Culture 101 | 6 April 2025
Stories about jewellery art are often susceptible to the use of bad puns. They sparkle, they're precious, they're worth their weight, and so forth. And sure we also can't resist: Karl Fritsch and Lisa Walker truly are the golden couple of Aotearoa New Zealand jewellery art. Indeed they're now a dynasty: eldest child Max Walker is also now a jeweller.
