Tincal lab Challenge 2026 Jewelry and Identity

"Eu não sou eu nem sou o outro,

Sou qualquer coisa de intermédio:

Pilar da ponte de tédio

Que vai de mim para o Outro.”

“I am neither myself nor the other,

I am something in between:

A pillar of the bridge of boredom

That goes from me to the Other.”

Mário de Sá-Carneiro, Portuguese poet (free translation)

The concept of identity invites us to look within ourselves - but do we exist without the other?

Identity and jewelry are intimately connected. Wearing jewelry is never an innocent act. Whether worn for pure aesthetics, charged with social status or imbued with sentimental value, it becomes a deliberate gesture of self-expression.

Identity has been at the center of human reflection since the beginning of time, and today it remains more relevant than ever.

In a time shaped by AI, by increasing threats to individual freedom and by public debates surrounding deeply personal matters such as gender identity, it feels urgent to reflect on what defines us. Paradoxically, we discover that what makes us unique is often what we have in common with others.

As much as we seek individuality, the desire to belong is part of the human condition - just as the feeling of being a stranger among others remains one of our deepest discomforts.

As jewelers, is the jewelry we create the same we choose to wear? What does it reveal about us? What meanings does it acquire for those who wear it?

Let jewelry speak: for the causes we defend, the values we hold and for the singularities that make us human.

JURY

Ana Pina (Portugal) | jeweler, gallerist, curator, founder of Tincal lab

Graduates in architecture (FAUP, 2004) and works in this area for some years before discovering the world of jewelry. Jeweler and gallerist, she now divides her work between her personal brand, launched in 2012, and Tincal lab, that is since 2015 an active contemporary jewelry workshop and exhibition space in the center of Porto.

In her work, Ana Pina creates unique pieces or limited collections of jewels with a strong abstract and geometric inspiration.

Orsolya Karman (Hungary / Austria) | winner of Tincal lab Challenge 2025 Selection of the Jury Award

Contemporary jewelry artist whose practice is deeply rooted in graphic design, visual systems, and material experimentation. Her work investigates jewelry as a spatial extension of graphic thinking, positioned at the intersection of art and design.

She holds a Master of Arts in Visual Communication from MOME, Budapest. With over two decades of experience in the area and a professional background as an art director, she works primarily with laser-cut techniques and architecturally inspired geometric structures, combining technological processes with meticulous handcraft.

She founded Karman Jewelry in 2012. Lives and works in Vienna, Austria.

Niki Stylianou (Greece) | artist, curator, creativity mentor, co-founder of JELO6

Niki Stylianou is a Greek architect, designer, jewelry artist, curator, educator, and creative mentor whose interdisciplinary practice bridges art, design, architecture, and participatory culture. Trained in Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens and holding postgraduate degrees from the Royal College of Art in London, she has also studied printmaking, mixed media, and jewelry design in London and Florence.

Since founding The Light Factory Creative Hub in 2010, she has worked extensively with artists and creatives through teaching and mentoring. She is the founder of Uni.Versus Art Room and co-founder of Athens Jewelry Week, currently developing the interdisciplinary JELO6 Project. Her work has been exhibited internationally in museums, galleries, and art fairs across Europe, the USA, Asia, and Australia.

77 jewelers from 32 countries are taking part in this edition.

On view at Tincal lab from November 14 to December 31, 2026.

PARTICIPANTS: