Museums Victoria has announced the recipients of the inaugural Museums Victoria Gold Jewellery Acquisitive Prize, which will see new works added to the State of Victoria Gold Jewellery Collection.
Winners and Acquisitions
The Major Prize of $20,000 was awarded to Laura Deakin for her piece The Diggings Ring. Simone Thomson received the $15,000 First Peoples Prize for Boorndup Biik, and Lou Wheeler was awarded the $8,000 Emerging Prize for The Safest Investment.
The winning pieces will be acquired into the State of Victoria Gold Jewellery Collection and displayed in 2026.
Purpose and Scope of the Prize
The prize was established to address underrepresented perspectives in the State Collection, particularly those of First Peoples, and invited jewellers and makers to explore gold’s historical and contemporary role in Victoria.
Applicants were not required to use gold in their work but were expected to engage critically with the wider social, cultural, environmental and political impacts of gold. The prize was open to Australian citizens or permanent residents aged 18 and over, with specific eligibility criteria for each category.
The Major Prize was open to professional jewellers or makers with at least five years of experience. The First Peoples Prize was open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants. The Emerging Prize was intended for those with five or fewer years of professional practice.
Assessment and Judging
Entries were assessed on concept, design and proposed craftsmanship. Finalists were selected by curatorial staff, and winners were chosen by a judging panel chaired by Rebecca Carland, senior curator of history of collections at Museums Victoria.
The judging panel also included:
- Mark Edgoose, senior lecturer in gold and silversmithing at RMIT University
- Kimberley Moulton, adjunct curator of Indigenous art at the Tate Modern and curator emeritus, First Peoples at Museums Victoria
- Rory Hyde, associate professor of curatorial design and practice at the University of Melbourne
Winners were announced on 16 October 2025.
