* Students from one of the gemstone capitals in the world explore the complex meaning and impact of gemstones

* A critical examination of today's gemstone trade

* Includes a cultural history of gemstones by Wilhelm Lindemann, a curator and author of numerous books on the jewelry trade

Rare stones have fascinated people for thousands of years. Their extraction is never free of conflict, but at the same time the trading and processing of stones brings together people from the most remote regions of the world. In Germany, the town of Idar-Oberstein is considered a hub for gemstone trading and processing, and students come from all over the world to study and work here with rare materials. In LithoMania, part of the Design Lab exhibition series at the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin, students from the Idar-Oberstein campus of the Trier University of Applied Sciences explore the complex ambivalence of gemstones, going beyond their use in jewelry design through objects, drawings, photographs, and texts. Since 2019 the exhibition series Design Lab has invited various design labs, organizations, and students to present their current projects and to enter into a dialog with the Kunstgewerbemuseum collection. Text in English and German.