40 Brooches for 40 Years

Celebrating 40 years of Dazzle Exhibitions

2021 is a milestone year for Dazzle Exhibitions. Conceived in 1981 by Christine Bola and Tony Gordon, they launched with three simultaneous exhibitions at the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester, The National Theatre in London and Bede Art Gallery in Jarrow. Over the last four decades Dazzle has held over 150 exhibitions in many different venues all over the country, showcasing over 1500 independent designers, from established jewellers to emerging talent.

As part of the 40th anniversary celebrations, Dazzle presents 40 Brooches for 40 Years exhibition. 40 makers from across the four decades were invited to make a special brooch for the occasion. These are available to buy on Lovedazzle until 29 October 2021.

Alongside this we are showing 40 Brooches from our own personal collection dating back to our first exhibition in 1981 to the present day. Each one is catalogued in this blog post.

Tony Gordon and Christine Bola, the Co-founders of Dazzle, both feel very privileged to have been involved in the craft world and with so many wonderful makers for such a long time. What started as an interesting side line, developed into a lifelong commitment to showing and selling handmade jewellery by individual makers, often just graduated, in a wide variety of venues and introducing the general public to work, not seen outside specialist galleries.

Along the way they have met so many interesting people and made connections with so many of our makers and they have made connections with each other through Dazzle. Many of which have become great friends. This exhibition will give you a little snapshot into the history of Dazzle and the makers that have shown with us over the years.