Chroic 2023

Call for Applications: Chroic 2023

You are invited to participate in Chroic 2023 - the UK’s first culturally sensitive competition and showcase dedicated to fine jewellers and designers who identify with any Black background.

The competition and showcase is backed by The Goldsmiths Centre, the UK’s leading charity for the training of goldsmiths. This is a great opportunity to gain competition experience, receive expert feedback on your work and collaborate with fellow Black jewellers.

Chroic is aimed at fine jewellers who identify with any Black background. The goal of Chroic is to tackle the three main barriers faced by Black jewellers - access to funding, access to networks and exposure - all from a culturally sensitive angle.

Why enter Chroic?

You will receive free professional photography of pieces submitted
You will have an opportunity to showcase your talents
You will network with fellow Black jewellers and industry experts
You will have the chance to win a cash prize of up to £1,500

The brief this year is “Origin, Lineage, Legacy”. We want you to show us where you come from, who you are and what you’re building for the future. Innovative and inspired design is at the core of Chroic so pieces created specifically for Chroic 2023 are highly encouraged.

If you would like to take part in the competition and showcase or need further information on competition rules, regulations and key dates you can find out more here.

We look forward to welcoming you into what is to become a staple of the jewellery calendar and to show the wider industry exactly what the Black jewellery community is capable of.

Chroic is the first event of its kind - a culturally sensitive jewellery competition and showcase which aims to tackle the barriers faced by Black jewellers, by empowering them socially, creatively and economically, through greater access to networks, organisations and funding opportunities.

Chroic is the result of my personal experiences as a gemmologist, working within the UK jewellery industry. I created The List - an online directory of Black jewellery industry

professionals - in 2020 and through networking with fellow Black industry members I was able to identify a number of obstacles we all faced. As The List grew, it became clear that collecting names would not be enough to forge the changes needed within the UK jewellery industry and thus Chroic was born.

Backed by The Goldsmiths’ Centre, Chroic will start with an open call for Black jewellers in the UK to submit jewellery designs and/or pieces as part of a competition to discover and reward the best in UK Black jewellery. Entries will be shortlisted to be showcased at an exhibition and event, with their work featured alongside pieces from prominent UK Black jewellers such as Melanie Eddy. At the event there will be a prize giving ceremony in a celebration of Black art and jewellery design. It will also be a fantastic opportunity for networking and collaboration between Black industry members.

Black jewellers face a number of barriers whilst navigating the jewellery industry, independent of how far along they have progressed in their careers and with their craft. Through outreach, activism and research undertaken over the last two years I have identified three main barriers that Chroic will seek to address:

Access to funding
Access to networks
Recognition and exposure

Entrants will be competing for a cash prize of £1,500 for Best in Show, as well as two runner up prizes of £700. Alongside the cash prizes, all entrants will receive professional jewellery photography, free of charge, for use in their portfolios, social media or future promotional materials.

As this is Chroic’s first year it is crucial to get as many jewellers, designers and industry members to participate and attend the showcase. I hope that this information, pre-written invitations and social media posts will provide you everything you need to begin sharing and promoting the competition and event to your networks. I have also included an FAQ section to better help with any questions those in your network may have. If you require any further information I will be more than happy to help.

Chroic Competition Outline

The Chroic jewellery design competition will be open to fine and demi-fine jewellers who identify as African, Caribbean or with any other Black background. The competition launches on Friday 30 September 2022 and closes on Friday 17 March 2023.

Works completed up to two years before the competition will be accepted however, work created specifically for the competition is highly encouraged. Entrants are permitted to submit up to three finished pieces for consideration.

The competition brief this year is “Origin, Lineage, Legacy”. We are asking designers and makers to show us where they come from, who they are and what they are building for the future.

We are looking for original, inspired works crafted with skill, intention and meaning. Work submitted will be judged by leading artisans from the Afro-Caribbean / Black community who will decide which pieces to allocate awards to and assist in the curation of the showcase.

The judges will be asked to assess each piece based on level of design, quality of finish, technical ability and consistency across the piece.

Winners will be announced during the showcase and prizes will be allocated after the event. All entrants will automatically be invited to attend the showcase.

Any prizes to be awarded will be announced during the showcase on Saturday 6 May, 2023.

There are plans to showcase as many entries as possible throughout the evening. Entrants will also hace the opportunity to discuss their pieces with the judges.

Work submitted by the deadline will be professionally photographed. Digital copies will be sent directly to all entrants, free of charge and may be used by entrants for their portfolios.

Registration for Chroic opens on Friday 30 September 2022.

Any queries can be directed to: info@chroic.com