Design & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI) is delighted to announce the jury panel for the PORTFOLIO programme.

PORTFOLIO is an enduring programme which celebrates contemporary and design-led craft of the highest quality. The PORTFOLIO programme showcases work for the high-end gallery market and its publication is widely recognised and respected across the national and international fine craft communities.

DCCI established the PORTFOLIO programme in 2005 as a targeted, strategic development initiative to support the fine craft community and support Ireland’s high end craft makers in securing national & international commercial opportunities. Having run successfully for many years, PORTFOLIO was paused and a review was conducted. PORTFOLIO now returns with a new approach where the next iteration will have one selection and all work selected will be included in the programme. We are delighted to open up the application process for an updated publication in 2026 followed by a curated exhibition in the National Design & Craft Gallery (NDCG) in early 2027.

Meet the Jury Panel

Jean Blanchaert with Irena Eschenazi 

Jean Blanchaert is a gallerist, curator and art critic who runs the family gallery founded by his mother Silvia in 1957, in Milan. He has curated dozens of exhibitions in institutional venues, in the fields of glass, ceramics, iron, enamel and marble, and also in art and photography.

Since 2008 he has been a regular contributor to the monthly magazine Art e Dossier. He has been a member of the Curatorial Committee of The Venice Glass Week since 2018. He curated Best of Europe and Next of Europe at Homo Faber 2018 and 2022 (Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venezia), event organised by Michelangelo Foundation.

He was one of the Craft Experts (with Irina Eschenazi), at the third edition of Homo Faber, A Journey of Life (2024), and will also be one of the experts at the fourth edition in September 2026.

In 2024, he published Musica senza suono. Maestri di Murano (Marsilio), a book that explores the history and contemporary relevance of Murano glass.

Samantha Rhodes is the recently appointed Director of the Ruthin Craft Centre (RCC) one of the United Kingdom’s leading centres for applied arts, housed in an award-winning contemporary building, designed by Sergison Bates architects and shortlisted for Art Fund Prize for Museums and Galleries 2009. Funded by Arts Council Wales RCC’s renowned creative programme shows the best of Welsh and UK contemporary applied arts across 3 main galleries, print studio and a new CELF Gallery space*.

Samantha was previously Director at Bluecoat Display Centre, one of the countries earliest independent craft galleries located for 67 years in the Bluecoat, Liverpool. She has more than 30 years’ experience working in the contemporary applied arts sector and a broad knowledge of craft makers and their practice. She has supported the careers of hundreds of makers and has curated exhibitions over many years at the Bluecoat Display Centre and has co-curated temporary craft exhibitions including Collect at the V&A and Saatchi Gallery as well as internationally. Samantha is a member of the Visual Arts Group Wales and the CELF Gallery advisory committee.

*CELF is a partnership network of 12 venues working with our audiences across Wales and beyond to grow access to the artworks in collections. CELF has been developed in collaboration between Arts Council of Wales, Amgueddfa Cymru and the National Library of Wales.

Nicole Segundo is a Swiss-based specialist in high-end watchmaking and fine craftsmanship, with over 25 years of international experience. She has led brand launches, developed global markets, and curated prestigious collector events and fairs.

In 2016, she founded FirstSecond to support independent artisans in growing their international business and collaborate with leading craft institutions, including the Michelangelo Foundation to design programmes that foster the transmission of crafts to future generations.

A TEDx speaker on artisanal excellence, Nicole has moderated panels on the preservation and continuity of craftsmanship at the prestigious Watches and Wonders fair. She also teaches the Master’s course Design Culture in Luxury and leads Craftsmanship workshops for CREA, creative marketing, communication and luxury management school in Geneva.

Dr Edith Andrees is a cultural historian and Curator of Applied Arts and Design at the National Museum of Ireland. She curated a number of collaborative projects, including InForm, (with DCCI, 2018-2021) and The Weight of Words (with NCAD Jewellery & Objects, currently on display at NMI).

Edith is also co-curator of the exhibitions Studio & State: The Laverys and the Anglo-Irish Treaty (2021-2023, with Hugh Lane Gallery) and A Hand in Nature. Art Metalwork and Jewellery (with Eva Lynch, 2025-2026).

Her research interests include collective memory, historical narratives and their accessibility in museums, as well as collaborative and interdisciplinary practice.

In her previous role as museum educator, Edith Andrees has worked on participative arts and history projects for the Irish Decade of Centenaries programme (2013-2023).