SMCK Magazine invites artists, crafters, and designers working with jewelry, textile, applied arts, crafts, fashion and accessories, objects, performance, film or poetry, to submit their personal love stories on video. Create your video using a camera or simply your smartphone – what matters most is your story and message!
‣ All videos will be screened at Grassimesse Leipzig 2025, SCHMUCK Jewelry Week in Munich, and the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim (Germany), 2026.
‣ All videos will be presented on SMCK Magazine's SMCK On Reel website and promoted through the social media.
‣ All videos will be nominated for the SMCK On Reel Video Award 2026.
Love stories move and inspire us. Let’s think of ourselves as the protagonists of a unique love story with our works – jewelry, ceramics, clothes, shoes, bags or shoes, glass, textiles, furniture, or even photographs or videos or drawings and designs – playing a central role in the plot.
But what can objects tell about our passions, thoughts, life and memories, and how can we include all these elements in a video shot with a smartphone or amateur camera?
One of applied art's major role is to connect us with our loved ones. A precious object – jewelry, ceramics, textiles, dress or accessory, furniture – reflects emotions, memories, values and life milestones. In many cultures, a unique object, for example a jewelry piece, seals the lovers’ commitment and oath.
Send us YOUR love story, a real one or imaginary with a happy or a sad end ❤ A story of passion or a story of disappointment ❤ A story about love destroyed by social conventions or a story about love against all odds ❤ A story of secret or forbidden love or a love story that ended abruptly through separation or war or death ❤ A love story that led to a happy family ❤ A love story that started promising and became a nightmare or a story between people who did not match initially, however fell in love and grew together ❤ A love story that never happened, but remained a phantasy and became the tormenting question: "What would have happened, if...?"
Participate in the SHORT MOVIES ABOUT LOVE & OBJECTS by sending your video, or your idea for a love story. All accepted videos will be nominated for the SMCK ON REEL Video Award 2026.
Two prizes will be awarded for the two best love stories: a JURY AWARD and an AUDIENCE AWARD. All videos are nominated for the prizes. The name of the winners will be announced Saturday, 7 March 2026 following the SMCK ON REEL screening at SCHMUCK Munich Jewelry Week.
The award winners take part in a four-day intensive residency program in Athens, Greece. The residency includes a customized program of curated museum and site visits focusing on arts, crafts and jewelry, three nights accommodation in an individual studio in central Athens, a publication of the winners' experiences in Athens, plus an interview and presentation of their work in SMCK Magazine’s next issue and in the social media. The Athens residency takes place between June and December 2026.
• Saturnalia – video by Christoph Ziegler and Loukia Richards inspired by Titus Petronius’ Satyricon. (2020, 4.53 min) •
Submit your video, reel, or short film based on a personal narrative, story, or statement that reflects the theme of Love and revolves around an artwork or object you created.
Submission is free. Artists and designers whose videos are accepted pay a participation fee of 150,00 EUR.
Submitted videos must be no more than 5 years old and no longer than 3 minutes. They can be filmed using a smartphone or professional video equipment. The image format should be landscape/horizontal (16:9 or 4:3), and the video resolution HD or 1920x1080px. Files larger than 20MB must be sent via WeTransfer to the email address above.
HOW TO APPLY: Send your video or video link, and a short statement of max. 150 words describing your story / your work to magazine@smck.org.
Great literature appeals to and reflects the taste of a sophisticated audience that looks for meaning and inspiration in quality, in avant-garde ideas, and in emotionally strong, well structured images. In hard times, great literature clears our vision, reassesses our values, and gives birth to new creations.
The e-residency and video project Short Movies About Love & Objects combines literature, applied art and crafts with real life experiences. Participants interpret some of the world’s greatest love stories, embody the main characters, adorn them with the their jewelry, dress them with their creations or furnish them with hand-crafted objects.
SMCK Magazine matches the artist’s love story with a masterpiece of world literature. It gives the artist’s love story a new context, frame and perspective; it adds depth to the artist’s story and work, and presents it through different lenses, approaches and media.
Participation fee for the e-residency is 350,00 EUR, payable in one or two installments.
❥ A 2-day online workshop on literature, history and meaning of objects and performance. The workshop gives you insight into the plot and literary character that corresponds to your love story. The workshop provides you with valuable tips and advice on how to film and how to play their part.
❥ Directions & shooting: SMCK Magazine gives you directions on how to shoot your story, and how to film your message and stage your video on smartphone or camera. No previous experience in video shooting, acting or stage design is needed.
❥ Editing & production: SMCK Magazine cuts and edits the video material sent by the artists, and create a video composed of individual episodes presenting the participants’ love stories in a ca. 20-minute film.
❥ Publication in SMCK Magazine: Participants’ work and stories – including images and text – will be published in a special catalogue in SMCK Magazine, issue no. 12, titled Fashionable.
HOW TO APPLY:
Artists who work in the field of jewelry, object, design, sculpture, installation, performance, video, photography, textile art, ceramics, as well as filmmakers, crafters, art theorists, researchers, curators are encouraged to apply.
Send us a short sketch of your love story (max 150 words), as well as a weblink and your work statement.
Email your application to magazine@smck.org.
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