2nd International Amber Workshops Gdańsk–Amsterdam 2026

For the second time, workshops devoted to working with Baltic amber were held at the renowned Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Nearly 80 students from Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary, Taiwan, Lithuania, South Korea, Iceland, China, Denmark, Sweden, Israel, Australia, Ireland, Poland, France, the United States, Italy and Portugal took part.

Baltic Amber in the Jewelry Department

On the first day the workshops were attended by students of the Jewellery – Linking Bodies department, which runs one of the most renowned education programs in the field of contemporary art jewelry. The program treats jewelry as an autonomous art form, exploring its relationships with the body, space and social context and encouraging students to experiment with diverse materials and techniques. Among those associated with the department as lecturers or graduates are Ted Noten, Iris Eichenberg, Katja Prins, Ruudt Peters, Gijs Bakker and many other recognized art jewelry designers.

This time the students experimented with Baltic amber: they drilled, shaped, ground and polished natural nuggets of amber. They did everything by hand in order to learn the properties of the material and the basic techniques of working it.

“Bursztynowy Reset głowy” for Everyone

On the second day students from other departments joined the workshops. The space quickly became colorful, dynamic and diverse. Work with amber went on all day — some participants worked for several dozen minutes, others devoted several hours to it, creating both simple forms and more elaborate objects.

It Doesn’t End There

Further workshops in Amsterdam are planned, as well as a visit by Gerrit Rietveld Academie students to the Amberif Spring 2027 fair. The workshops were led by Robert Pytlos, Plenipotentiary of the Mayor of the City of Gdańsk for Amber, a journeyman amber worker at the Pomeranian Chamber of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and the author of the entries on amber in the Gdańsk Encyclopedia.

Organizers:

Jewellery – Linking Bodies Department, Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam.

Acknowledgments:

Clem Edwards, head of the department, and Edward Pytlos, a second-year student.

Gerrit Rietveld Academie is one of the most renowned art schools in Europe, educating in the fields of fine arts and design. The school is famous for its interdisciplinary approach, combining experimentation, critical thinking and workshop practice, and for an open model of education that encourages students to cross the boundaries between disciplines.

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