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Last Updated: Thursday, 21 August 2025 09:47

Published: Thursday, 21 August 2025 08:09

Contemporary Wearables ’25 Biennial Jewellery Award & Exhibition, which showcases some of Australia’s most prominent and emerging contemporary makers, is one of four new exhibitions that will be on display as part of Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery’s 2025 Spring Season exhibition schedule.

All four exhibitions will be displayed during the city’s renowned, award-winning Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers' festivities that run from September 12 to October 6, 2025. For full details, visit www.tcof.com.au

Contemporary Wearables ’25 Biennial Jewellery Award & Exhibition is the focus of Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery's contribution to promoting excellence in contemporary Australian adornment.

The award is a forum for innovative contemporary jewellery and object practice.

Contemporary Wearables ’25 Biennial Jewellery Award and Exhibition is proudly supported by Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC), Haymans Electrical and Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.

The official opening of Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery's Spring Season exhibitions and the award ceremony for Contemporary Wearables ‘25 Biennial Jewellery Award and Exhibition will be held from 5.30pm on Friday, August 29.

Please RSVP by Wednesday, August 27 by calling 131 872 or emailing info@tr.qld.gov.au

The guest speaker and appointed judge for 2025, Julie Blyfield, will announce the awards with TRC’s Library and Cultural Services portfolio spokesperson Cr Melissa Taylor to announce the acquisitions on behalf of Toowoomba Region Mayor, Cr Geoff McDonald.

Residents who are keen to hear more about the exhibition are invited to an In Conversation panel discussion at the Gallery with Julie Blyfield (CW25 judge), Caitlin Eyre (CW25 juror) and Dr Elizabeth Shaw (Convenor of Jewellery and Small Objects, Queensland College of Art Griffith University and a past CW juror) from 10.30am on Saturday, August 30. The panellists will discuss perspectives on the legacy and future of the artform in Australia.

Julie Blyfield is a jeweller and metalsmith with a practice spanning nearly four decades.

Blyfield exhibits her jewellery nationally and internationally and she was awarded the celebrated 2024 JamFactory ICON with a major Australian touring exhibition from 2024-27. Her work is included in international collections: National Gallery of Australia; Victoria & Albert Museum, London and the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris.

Australia is home to an incredible contemporary jewellery community that is supported by makers, educators and cultural producers.

Other Spring Season exhibitions on display include:

SIXTY: The Journal of Australian Ceramics 60th Anniversary 1962–2022 is a special Australian Design Centre On Tour exhibition project presented in partnership with The Australian Ceramics Association to acknowledge this significant anniversary.

This major exhibition will showcase the work of 22 acclaimed ceramic artists from across Australia, including Toowoomba’s own Dan Elborne, and other previous exhibitors such as Pippin Drysdale, Vipoo Srivilasa and Greg Daly.

SIXTY: The Journal of Australian Ceramics 60th Anniversary 1962-2022 is an Australian Design Centre (ADC On Tour) national touring exhibition, presented with assistance from the Australian Government Visions of Australia program. The Visions of Australia regional exhibition touring program supports audience access to Australian arts and cultural material, with a particular focus on tours to regional and remote Australia.

Taking its cue from Rupert Bunny’s The harem c.1913, Ornamentalism features artists from the Gallery’s collections whose work embodies their fascination with pattern and decoration.

It focuses on links between ornamentation and Asia’s diverse creative histories.

Every First Nation of Australia is spiritually and reciprocally connected to their own unique, living place – Country. Artists represented in Stepping Stones: First Nations Artworks from the City Collection celebrate and share their ancestral connection to their timeless Country.

Spring Season schedule:
Contemporary Wearables ’25 Biennial Jewellery Award & Exhibition: August 30 – November 23.

SIXTY: The Journal of Australian Ceramics 60th Anniversary 1962-2022: August 16 – October 12.

Ornamentalism: August 9 – October 12.

Stepping Stones: First Nations Artworks from the City Collection: August 16 – October 12.

Opening hours: Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery at 531 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba, is open Wednesday to Sunday 10.30am – 3.30pm. In September 2025, the Gallery will open from 10.30am to 3.30pm on two Mondays, September 15 and 22. Entry is free.

For details on all exhibitions, please visit www.tr.qld.gov.au/trag 

Images:
1. From the exhibition Contemporary Wearables ’25 Biennial Jewellery Award & Exhibition - 2023 Award Winner Zoë VENESS / Wreath 2023 / Neckpiece: archival paper, stainless-steel cable, sterling-silver tubing / 42 x 42 x 4cm / Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery – Toowoomba City Collection 2417 / Purchased 2023 with funds donated by Toowoomba Gallery Society Inc., 2018 / © Zoë Veness (top)

2. From the exhibition SIXTY: The Journal of Australian Ceramics 60th Anniversary 1962–2022 - Susan FROST / Rise 2022 (detail) / Photo: Grant Hancock / © Susan Frost (below)

3. From the exhibition Ornamentalism - Rupert BUNNY / The harem c.1913 / oil on canvas / 51.8 x 79.5cm / Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery - Lionel Lindsay Gallery and Library Collection 002

4. From the exhibition Stepping Stones: First Nations Artworks from the City Collection - Vincent SERICO (Wakka Wakka & Kabu Kabu) / [Tree of life] 1988 / synthetic polymer paint on board / 61.0 x 91.5 cm / Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery – Toowoomba City Collection 1702 / Courtesy of the Estate of Vincent Serico and FireWorks Gallery (bottom)