Beyond Adornment

A look at the roots and rise of art Jewellery in South Africa, and the contemporary makers redefining it today.

WORDS Jo Buitendach PHOTOS Courtesy of Strauss & co, Supplied

Art jewellery pushes beyond traditional jewels and gold to focus on ideas, creative expression and one-of-a-kind pieces that act as sculptures for the body. Often made with unconventional materials, it challenges expectations of what jewellery can be.

In South Africa, the movement emerged in the mid-20th century and grew through generations of makers who blur the line between art and adornment. Its defining feature is an emphasis on the artist’s vision over the intrinsic value of materials, resulting in unique, meaningful pieces rather than mass-produced objects. Its significance was underscored in October 2025 when auction house Strauss & Co (straussart.co.za), together with Stellenbosch University’s Creative Jewellery and Metal Design division, presented “Origins & Legacy of Art Jewellery in South Africa” – an online auction and exhibition that traced the movement from its Mid-century pioneers to contemporary leaders.

South African art jewellery took shape as European goldsmiths arrived after World War II and began to experiment with more modern ideas, new forms and materials that were unconventional. Early figures such as Erich Frey, Else Wongtschowski, Dieter Dill, Kurt Jobst, Egon Guenther, Eone de Wet, Mauro Pagliari, Margaret Richardson, Maia Holm and Frida Blumenberg helped to establish an exploratory, artist-driven approach that connected jewellery to wider creative movements.

Today, the local scene may be small, but its makers are exceptionally inventive. We spoke to a select group about what drives their work:

Dr Khanya Mthethwa is an award-winning South African artist, jewellery designer and academic.

Khanya sees art jewellery as “sculpture in motion, carried by the body” – a form that moves “beyond ornament into a space of cultural memory, identity and political presence”, where adornment becomes a kind of language, and the body becomes part of the artwork. Her practice reframes indigenous African knowledge systems that have long been marginalised or reduced to craft. Moving fluidly between jewellery, sculpture and new media, she works with metal, beads, alternative materials and digital processes.

“South Africa is a site of layered history, rupture, resilience and cultural multiplicity,” she says. “It shapes my sensitivity to questions of erasure, survival and reinvention.” This awareness underpins her expanding engagement with African dialogues, both conceptually and materially. Khanya is currently deepening her sculptural and digital practice while developing new bodies of work that engage African archives and memory. She is also preparing for upcoming international exhibitions and research-led collaborations across the continent and abroad. @changingfacets

Geraldine Fenn and Eric Loubser own Tinsel Gallery in Melville, a space that serves as their studio and a showcase for South Africa’s contemporary jewellers. Together, they create, exhibit and champion innovative jewellery.

“We create all kinds of jewellery. As manufacturing jewellers we produce commercial pieces – but everything is handmade and bespoke, so almost every piece is unique. We also make art jewellery, experimenting with materials and concepts, and the two approaches feed into each other creatively,” say Geraldine and Eric.

“Sharing a studio means we constantly influence each other, even while working on separate pieces. Our aesthetics are shaped by our environment and our South African childhood. Living here can be challenging… But it also encourages resourcefulness and experimentation.

“Geraldine is preparing for a solo show at Montreal’s Noel Guyomarc’h gallery in June 2026, supported by a grant from the Art Jewelry Forum.” @ericloubser | @geraldinefenn | @tinselgallery

Joani Groenewald is a lecturer in the Department of Visual Arts at Stellenbosch University, and a jewellery designer, goldsmith and artist.

For Joani, the beauty of art jewellery resists neat categorisation, challenging conventions of value, function and wearability. She uses scale and weight to explore land, ownership and social politics in South Africa, creating pieces that range from large, conceptually heavy forms to smaller, wearable works. Her practice is closely tied to place and materiality, oft en incorporating found objects, clay and plant matter that carry memory and history. Living and working in South Africa informs both her materials and her ideas, while her dual role as researcher and practising artist allows her to move fluidly between thinking and making. She is currently preparing a chapter on activism, and developing a new body of work in her studio. @joanigroenewald1

Dr Bongani TP Mashange is a Zimbabwean-born contemporary jeweller and academic, currently lecturing and pursuing postdoctoral research at Stellenbosch University.

Bongani calls himself “a contemporary art jeweller” – a perspective that shapes everything he does. He sees contemporary jewellery as far more than decoration or craft; for him, it’s an artistic practice that blends traditional and modern techniques to explore ideas. His work delves into the complexity of African identity, with “Afropolitanism” at its heart. Drawing on his Ndebele and Shona heritage, his Zimbabwean roots and life in South Africa, his pieces resemble sculptural objects rather than conventional jewellery. Looking ahead, Bongani plans to deepen his exploration of African identity through the Afropolitan aesthetic, and create new work that reflects diasporic identities and the nuances of trauma. @bonganimashange

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