Name: Clouds and Forged Air Holes – Bettina Dittlmann & Michael Jank
Start: 2026-05-24T02:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-09-14T01:59:59+02:00
Location: Luftmuseum Amberg

When Jewelry Becomes Space, Cloud, and Density

At the Air Museum Amberg, Clouds and Forged Air Holes is an exhibition in a place perfectly suited for fleeting forms, material poetry, and precise work examination. Bettina Dittlmann and Michael Jank combine goldsmithing, experimental material processing, and artistic engagement with clouds into an art experience that hovers between craftsmanship, sculpture, and contemporary jewelry art.

Tradition in Motion

At the center are the Forever Rings, forged works made from gold, silver, copper, and iron, developed since 1998. The material is punctured, stretched, extended, and shaped – a process that makes the trace of the hand visible and gives the jewelry a sculptural presence. This is precisely where the aesthetic experience of this exhibition lies: form emerges not as a smooth surface, but as condensed time.

Material as Language of Art

Bettina Dittlmann, born in 1964 in Passau, is historically rooted in jewelry art and object art; her training at the State Vocational School Neugablonz, the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, and the State University of New York shapes an attitude between craftsmanship discipline and poetic openness. Michael Jank, born in 1972 in Mühldorf am Inn, studied design as well as photography and printmaking and has been working as an artist, curator, and author alongside Dittlmann since 1998. This dual perspective sharpens the view of the object as an image, body, and conceptual figure simultaneously.

Clouds as Image, Idea, and Projection

The title of the exhibition goes far beyond the piece of jewelry. Clouds represent change, transience, and longing in art history, as well as light shifts and atmospheres that evade solid grasp. In the Air Museum, whose profile is tailored to engage with the element air, the works unfold a unique spatial impact. Metal surfaces, plastic volumes, and fine material contrasts blur the boundaries between object, installation, and image.

Historical Contextualization and Recognition

Dittlmann and Jank belong to a scene of contemporary jewelry art where awareness of form, experimentation, and artisanal precision come together. Their work has been honored with awards including the Bavarian State Prize, the Herbert Hofmann Prize, and the Promotion Prize of the City of Munich. International exhibitions and collection presence, especially in renowned museums, underline the authority of this oeuvre in the field of applied arts.

A Museum Experience for Curious Visitors

The Air Museum Amberg provides the appropriate setting for this exhibition: a place of cultural education that maintains tours and mediation offers while simultaneously opening the view for unusual artistic positions. Those who want to experience jewelry not just as ornamentation, but as a form of thought, will find here an exhibition that takes material, light, and idea seriously alike.

Conclusion: Clouds and Forged Air Holes promises a concentrated, sensual, and art-historically grounded encounter with contemporary jewelry art. Anyone who appreciates precise craftsmanship, poetic forms, and a museum atmosphere should definitely experience this exhibition live at the Air Museum Amberg.