MAD About Jewelry 2026 Showcases Contemporary Art’s Evolution

By Karen Dybis | May 04, 2026

MAD About Jewelry returns for its 26th edition with contemporary art jewelry that celebrates experimental materials, extraordinary silhouettes, and a full array of nature’s entrancing colors.

Billing itself as the ultimate contemporary jewelry pop-up, MAD About Jewelry runs May 5–9 at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in Manhattan. This year comprises 45 jewelry artists from more than 20 countries.

MAD About Jewelry also features a Tuesday opening benefit preview at Robert—the museum’s top-floor restaurant—with a chance to meet the artists. (The event benefits exhibitions and educational programs.) On Thursday, MAD chair emerita Barbara Tober will host a luncheon and panel with speakers including Lynn Yaeger, Judy Geib, and senior curator Barbara Paris Gifford.

This artist showcase includes emerging talent as well as internationally acclaimed creatives, making it a destination for jewelry lovers and collectors, says curator Bryna Pomp.

Dora Haralambaki Blume MAD — *Greek jewelry artist Dora Haralambaki will present her Blume collection, highlighting her mastery of bronze and vivid pigments.*

Pomp travels the world to meet these innovators, learn about their process, and champion their art at MAD. This year, she says she considered nearly 1,000 artists for inclusion.

For the past 25 years, MAD About Jewelry has elevated jewelry as a vital contemporary art form. MAD remains the only American museum with a gallery dedicated exclusively to jewelry exhibitions and a growing collection of modern and contemporary art jewelry.

Pomp plays no favorites, but says some jewelers MAD About Jewelry 2026 is proud to host include Eunhee Cho from Korea, who uses traditional Korean methods like the historic jiseung technique of twisting and weaving paper to create delicate jewelry.

Fatma Mostafa from Egypt employs embroidery with metal to create colorful jewelry that reflects her background as a fine artist in painting. Andrea de Navarrete of Argentina, who works under the name ADNJewelry, transforms aluminum coffee capsules into recycled jewelry that is as beautiful as it is sustainable.

Andreade Navarrete Lunar MAD — *Andrea de Navarrete of ADNJewelry will showcase her pieces created from recycled coffee pods, transforming discard into design with purpose.*

Pomp, who is a longtime pin and brooch advocate, also points to the work of Amy Findlay of Scotland. Findlay use insects as her muse, employing techniques such as hand-carving and lost-wax casting to create her natural-appearing brooches.

Monies from Denmark epitomizes innovation over a long career. The more than 50-year-old brand is now under a new director, Karl Monies, son of the founders, Gerda and the late Nikolai Monies.

Dora Haralambaki of Greece shows how bronze and acrylic finishes can elevate even the simplest forms like flowers into contemporary art. And Colin Lynch, founder of Keane New York, from the United States takes borosilicate glass, typically used in lampworking, to create bold, colorful jewelry pieces.

Top: Fatma Mostafa is one of the contemporary art jewelry creators featured in the 2026 edition of MAD About Jewelry. (Photos courtesy of the Museum of Arts and Design)