Šperk - forma - obsah

The book links jewellery from the past and present. It does not follow a timeline, but the ways in which jewellery carries a message. Rather than a theoretical interpretation, it illustrates these ways through groups of jewellery from many different perspectives. It embraces the category of jewellery in its entirety, not only objects that are physically permanent or impermanent, but also works with the character of a concept or an event. It benefits from the encounter between original and collective jewellery, the explosive and the conventional. Some examples return throughout the book to reveal other layers of jewellery language through participation in other groups. The collections of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague (UPM) have become an essential source of works and the basis of the book's thought construct, Šperk - forma - obsah. They contribute to all the chapters entitled Jewellery and Time; Jewellery and Light; Jewellery and Body; Jewellery and Figure. In each of these chapters, they mix with the collections of national and foreign institutions, with works in private hands, with jewellery still worn and with jewellery not yet preserved.
Šperk - forma - obsah is the first book-length presentation of historical and contemporary jewellery from UPM's collections. It creates bridges of ideas between works from recent and distant times. It follows the jewellery installations in the permanent exhibition ART, LIFE. Art for Life, which will be on view in the museum's main building from 2023. Unlike the exhibition, however, it places UPM's collections in the context of the world's jewellery collections. It presents a mosaic of themes as a result of its efforts to highlight the content potential of jewellery. It sets the stage for a deeper discussion of selected themes in future exhibitions.