What Colour is Metal? is an exhibition that brings audiences on a journey of process, experimentation and mastery through the practice of 25 contemporary jewellers and silversmiths.

This exhibition is a consideration of the relationship between metal and colour in contemporary silversmithing and jewellery practice, and a mapping of relationships and practice in key centres internationally. It examines approaches ranging from colour achieved using the inherent properties of metal to react with other chemicals or heat (or a combination of the two); the reveal of colour as a property of the metal itself; infusing the surface of aluminium with pure colour or image; the use of enamel glazes with varying degrees of transparency and opacity – but always with a fundamentally strong relationship with the surface qualities of the metal.

What Colour is Metal? makes vivid the connections between innovative studio practice and historic techniques, and looks to the future and profiles potential adaptations for industry. It examines notions of value, and the changes in assay regulations which have allowed a freer approach to combining precious and base metals within a single work. The possibilities for achieving colour modulations and sometimes startling colour were seemingly endless.

Exhibition curator, Sara Roberts explained: “It has been a joy to have the exhibition here in The Winchester Gallery following its tour of Irish Venues. It is the only showing in the UK, and it seems appropriate that it be shown in a place of learning, of experiment, of knowledge sharing. The practitioners in this exhibition, drawn from an international forum of specialists in their field, are extraordinarily generous with their hard-won knowledge, and disseminate information on techniques and approaches through informal as well as institutional channels.”

You can visit the exhibition 12:00 – 17:00 Tuesday – Friday and 12:00 – 16:00 Saturday until Saturday 3 December 2022.

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