Prima Gallery

Jewellers in Mumbai are trying various alternatives to attract the attention of consumers who have virtually stopped buying gold jewellery due to the huge rise in its price.

Kamlesh Shah, director of jewellery brand 'Incollection', is launching a collection of wooden jewellery for the Indian markets.

"Unlike gold, which needs skilled craftsmen, wooden jewellery is made using a machine.

The effect is smooth and classy," he said.

Shah has already procured the machine from China, which is the largest manufacturer of innovative jewellery in the world.

"The jewellery costs just a fraction of cost (of gold jewellery) and we expect it to be popular with the younger generation in India," he said.

A range of jewellery made of mixed metals is also in the works, Shah added. "We are also launching a range of products made from mixed metals, which include silver, gold and platinum that give a yellow gold kind of effect," he said.

"Unlike jewellery made from silver which turns black, mixed metal jewellery retains its luster," he pointed out, adding this collection would be marketed in Hong Kong, too.

Prashant Sarawgi, brand director, Episode, a company which specialises in silver jewellery said the company has seen consistent demand for silver jewellery over the last five years. "Compared to gold, silver offers returns to the tune of 10 to 15 per cent year-on-year. We expect the trend to continue in the future as well. With the prices of gold going beyond the reach of the common man, we expect the demand for silver to remain," he said.

According to Sarawgi, silver products in India have not been marketed well and hence many do not know about the returns they offer. "A decent gift in gold would not come for less than Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000. But you can get a decent silver artifact for Rs 5,000," he said.

The Gitanjali group, which is one of the largest players in the organised jewellery market, had launched the Revv, a collection of jewellery made of alternate metals like stainless steel, tungsten and titanium, as far back as four years ago.

Hasmukh Bafna, president, Gold Chains & Jewellery Wholesalers Welfare Association, said those who buy jewellery made from alternative metal are basically impulsive buyers. "The percentage of consumers who opt for such jewellery is very less, say around one per cent. There is no resale value for such products," he said.

While the annual Photo Regional may be the best barometer of what's happening in the medium, the "Best of" exhibition series at the Photo Center of the Capital District in Troy, now in its second year, is becoming the gauge of emerging talent.

With 25 artists, "Best of 2009" is rough around the edges, but that's its charm. The 52 frames jam the center's cluttered space with a salon feel. It's easy to miss the pictures lining the tight and winding hallway leading to a "Do Not Enter" sign on a back door.

Exposed pipes and some works hanging on an odd partition -- wobbly as walls in an office cubicle -- add to its casual, unfinished feel.

A majority of the frames are landscapes -- many of the tried-and-true variety -- yet nearly all exhibit a high level of technical execution. There are no real surprises, but some do push the medium. As last year, many artists have taken up photography recently; about one-fifth of the entries were unknown to organizers.

Like the Photo Regional, the "Best of" is organized through an open call. Submissions are whittled down to the best of a single artist. In a new twist, the works not making it to the walls are shown in a video compilation. Visitors are encouraged to vote for their three favorites in keeping with the center's mission of developing new photographers.

In keeping with that spirit, here are my three selections:

"Hotel Movement" by Diane Reiner. A black-and-white geometric image that toggles between the ideas of existence and buildings, work and play, home and travel caught by a keen eye for the moment.

"Storm King at Dusk" by Lynn Palmiter. The Hudson River Valley has been the subject of some great art over the years, and this image adds a level of foreboding and mystery.

"Merging Earth and Sky" by Cheryle Gowie. Using a long exposure, the black-and-white image literally drags the sky to the tree tops, while its use of watercolor paper with various coatings frays the ends into jagged forms.

'Emerging Artists 2010'

Most of the artists don't have regular gallery representation; none went to a formal art school. They seem content to stay on the fringes of the art scene, breaking academic rules of color, form, material and composition with brooding, unabashed glee.

They are gathered in an exhibition called "Emerging Artists 2010" at the Limner Gallery in Hudson through March 27.

The pen/ink and digital image "DJ Change" by Gavin Weir has an Obama-esque figure spinning tunes at a decadent party with dollar bill-laden donkeys and elephants grinding and bumping on stripper poles. "Mary" by Tamara Staser-Meltzer is a caustic paper collage showing a deconstructed Jesus' mother as anything but a virgin.

E. Thurston Belmer's "A Red Home" takes the form of a homey and sedate 19th-century portrait, but startles with its pain and longing, while the highly graphic head shot on oil and canvas in "Obey" by Tim French conjures up fear and loathing in an autocratic society. There's a rough quality of youth to the exhibition, and a wide variety of skill.