The exhibition brings together over 400 pieces of jewelery: created by artists (Albers, Man Ray, Meret Oppenheim, Alexander Calder, Salvador Dali, Louise Bourgeois, Lucio Fontana, Niki de Saint Phalle, Fabrice Gygi, Thomas Hirschhorn, Danny McDonald, Sylvie Auvray …), avant-garde jewelery makers and designers (René Lalique, Suzanne Belperron, Line Vautrin, Art Smith, Tony Duquette, Bless, Nervous System …), contemporary jewelery makers (Gijs Bakker, Otto Künzli, Karl Fritsch, Dorothea Prühl, Seulgi Kwon, Sophie Hanagarth …) and also high end jewelers (Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Victoire de Castellane, Buccellati …), as well as anonymous, more ancient or non-Western pieces (including prehistorical and medieval works, punk and rappers jewellery as well as costume jewelery etc.).
The exhibition is organized around four themes with a specific display for each: Identity, Value, Body and Instruments. Each section starts from the often negative preconceptions surrounding jewellery in order to better deconstruct them, and finally reveal jewellery’s underlying subversive and performative potential.