The Birmingham Jewellery Biennial has announced that its flagship exhibition will take place at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG) during the festival’s inaugural edition in May 2027. Organisers have appointed jewellery historian and former Victoria and Albert Museum curator Sophie Morris as Exhibition Curator, alongside unveiling a 12-member expert jury that will help shape the exhibition and select artists through an open call launching this August.
The flagship exhibition will showcase contemporary jewellery by makers from across the UK, displayed alongside works by leading practitioners in one of the country’y foremost museums. Morris, who recently served as Curator of the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection at the V&A, returns to Birmingham, where she began her curatorial career at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, to oversee the exhibition. She will work closely with a jury comprising prominent figures from across the jewellery, design and craft sectors, including designer Hannah Martin, gemmologist Joanna Hardy, Dover Street Market’s Mimi Hoppen and artist Lee Lapthorne.
The exhibition forms part of the first-ever Birmingham Jewellery Biennial, taking place from 1–31 May 2027 across the city’s historic Jewellery Quarter and beyond. Co-founded by the Jewellery Quarter Development Trust and Birmingham City University, the festival follows Birmingham’s designation as a World Craft City for Jewellery and Allied Trades in 2025.
An open call for the flagship exhibition launches in August, inviting jewellery artists from across the UK to submit work for the chance to exhibit at BMAG and compete for thousands of pounds in prize money.
