Interior design studio Jouin Manku has designed a new exhibition for High Jewellery Maison Van Cleef & Arpels, in collaboration with the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris. ‘When Elegance Meets Art’ will be shown at the Today Art Museum in Beijing from 21 April to 5 August 2018. 

Patrick Jouin, Sanjit Manku and Van Cleef & Arpels have developed a creative complicity over several years of collaborating on projects for boutiques and exhibitions around the world. In particular, the studio has designed several major exhibitions looking at the Maison’ history, skill and designs, including ‘L’Art de la Haute Joaillerie’ (The Art of High Jewelry) at the Museum of Decorative Arts, Paris in 2012–2013, and more recently ‘The Art and Science of Gems’ at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore in 2016.

The Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku tandem shares a desire to create spaces that are anchored in their context, giving rise to emotion and magic. For this new exhibition, the JOUIN MANKU duo has has imagined a dreamlike setting. Inspired by the landscapes and gardens of China, the dreamy atmosphere gives the visitor a sense of adventuring through the world of Van Cleef & Arpels.

The Small Gallery looks at the beginnings of Van Cleef & Arpels, with jewellery and precious objects from the 1910s to the 1930s exhibited alongside short films and videos, within a quiet space in gentle tones of grey and celadon.

Later work, from 1940 to 2017, is displayed in the Medium Gallery. Superimposed layers of transparent, translucent and opaque materials, fabrics with abstract patterns, and tones of green, blue and violet, bring out all the beauty of the pieces of jewelry.

Transparent, luminous display cases designed by Jouin Manku and specially made for the exhibition punctuate the visit, discreet so as to let the jewels sparkle in all their glory. 

Led by changing colour schemes, the visitor progresses through the different periods, styles and inspirations of Van Cleef & Arpels before finally coming to the last room, the most out of this world, the Large Gallery. Here, the most emblematic creations from each key period of the Maison’s history are displayed. A path through the ages is punctuated by hidden treasures along the way, culminating in the major piece of the exhibition: the Fée Ondine Automate.

Jouin Manku’s exhibition design brings out the beauty and detail of these pieces of High Jewellery, enticing visitors to lose themselves in reverie.