IN SITU 2026 Summer School Enters Its Final Days
The international contemporary jewellery summer school IN SITU 2026 is currently taking place at Adatu Fabrika in Kuldīga, bringing together students, emerging designers and jewellery artists for ten days of intensive creative work. This year’s programme explores relationships between jewellery, the body, objects, packaging and space, combining hands-on workshops with lectures, discussions, excursions and encounters with professionals from different creative fields.
The summer school began in Riga with a programme of study visits. At the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, participants were introduced to Beautiful Nature, a pop-up exhibition by the Latvian Jewellery Art Association, accompanied by a presentation on the association’s activities to date and its plans for the future. A visit to the Latvijas Finieris production facility offered an opportunity to follow the journey of material within an industrial environment and gain insight into wood processing and manufacturing. In Kuldīga, the programme has continued beyond the workshop, including a visit to an exhibition of paintings by Kristīne Rubene.
IN SITU 2026 brings together 14 participants with professional and academic backgrounds connected to Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Belgium, Israel, Turkey, Italy and Canada. They represent a range of European art and design institutions and study fields, from jewellery and metal design to fine arts, sustainable fashion and design. This diversity of experience is an essential part of the summer school, allowing its central theme to be approached from different professional and cultural perspectives. Participants include Yael Burstein, Lisa-Marie Borchert, Gary Caïsso, Tereza Cicvárková, Antinéa Faucher, Janna Jongma, Marija Jurkovska, Elizabete Lipska, Anna Nejedla, Ayda Orhan, Agathe Paolazzi, Lucie Pastyříková and Konstancija Smulskytė. Jewellery artist Emma Gregory is also participating in IN SITU as a member of the academic staff of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp.
One of the summer school’s main guest lecturers is Swiss jewellery artist Esther Brinkmann. Under her guidance, participants began with a seemingly straightforward task: to create packaging for three rings of predetermined shapes. The exercise became a starting point for a broader conversation about the relationship between jewellery and its container: does a box merely protect and store a piece of jewellery, or can it become an equal part of the work — a “conversation partner” for the jewellery itself?
Guest lecturer Maija Rozenfelde approached the theme from another perspective, inviting participants to consider the body itself as a form of packaging and to experiment with relationships between the body, object, movement and presentation. This was followed by a lecture on typefaces, after which participants took to the streets of Kuldīga in search of letters, signs and typographic details in the urban environment — this time in situ in the most literal sense. The programme also included an online artist talk with Belgian artist Liesbet Bussche, whose works can be seen in the parallel exhibition Jewellery Parade 2026.
An essential part of IN SITU is the team helping participants turn their ideas into reality. The practical workshop is led by product designer and lecturer Arvīds Endziņš, who assists students with questions related to materials, construction and making. His own professional practice closely connects design with hands-on production and material experimentation.
Graphic designer Guna Poga created the visual identity for IN SITU and Jewellery Parade 2026, as well as the exhibition graphics and accompanying texts. In developing the identity, Guna drew inspiration from Kuldīga and Adatu Fabrika itself: the flowing water motif refers to Venta Rapid, the needle points to the history of the former needle factory, while the warm orange tone echoes the colour of the exposed brick walls in the building’s interior. Guna’s involvement extended beyond graphic design — she also took part in installing the exhibition, contributing thoughtful questions and a critical eye that helped the team arrive at considered solutions.
The exhibition’s spatial design was created by artist Modris Svilāns. Jewellery Parade 2026 is curated by artist and Art Academy of Latvia guest lecturer Ginta Grūbe, while the summer school is curated by Rasma Pušpure, Associate Professor and Head of Metal Design at the Art Academy of Latvia. Jewellery artist Una Mikuda is responsible for communications and works as the curator’s assistant.
Final Presentations — 20 August
On 20 August, everyone is invited to the IN SITU 2026 final student presentations at Adatu Fabrika. This will be an opportunity to see the works and experiments developed over the ten days, meet the participants and creative team, and learn more about the processes, explorations and discoveries behind the results.
The presentations will take place in two sessions: 10:00–12:00 and 15:00–18:00, at Adatu Fabrika, Kalpaka iela 4, Kuldīga.
Follow @rotuparade on Instagram for the latest updates from IN SITU 2026 and Jewellery Parade, as well as glimpses into the summer school and its creative process.
The exhibition Jewellery Parade will remain on view at Adatu Fabrika (Kalpaka iela 4, Kuldīga) until 31 August. The exhibition is open on weekdays from 9:00 to 17:00, by prior arrangement by phone at +371 29638612. Admission is free.
The project is organised by the Metal Design programme of the Design Department at the Art Academy of Latvia, in collaboration with the Latvian Jewellery Art Association.
The project is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation (VKKF), Kuldīga Municipality, State Education Development Agency (VIAA), CLT Profi and Lielvārdes.