VENICE – On Thursday, September 7, at Palazzo Franchetti, a press conference was held with the presentation of the definitive program of The Venice Glass Week, the first festival dedicated to the art of glass, with a particular focus on that of Murano.
The day was introduced by the Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, followed by Mariacristina Gribaudi, President of the foundation Musei Civici di Venezia, who reiterated the importance of glass in the Venetian territory both for its history and the great newness of its contemporary expressions.
Gabriella Belli, directive manager of the foundation Musei Civici di Venezia, with great enthusiasm, also stressed that, for the first time, the various institutions of the area have united themselves to conceive, contribute and participate in such an important initiative as The Venice Glass Week, which will have continuity over time.
For the final speech of the conference, the art critic Jean Blanchaert has involved the numerous audience telling the role of glass in today’s art world, highlighting and celebrating the skill of the glassmasters who perform the works of artists and designers.
“Glass is more and more present as a means of expression for contemporary art: when, anywhere in the world, an artist or designer wants to create a glasswork, the first place they instinctively think is Venice- Murano. There is a mythical, mythological air in Murano: the wizards who are working glass today have become attached to this matter like orchestras to music. They look and interpret contemporary forms with ancient techniques.
In the 1950’s, the workers in the furnaces were 5,000, but today they are 400, and yet the situation is changing. Today Murano glass is very alive! Firstly, because these magnificent 400 are aware, motivated like resistants, like partisans. Secondly, thirdly and fourthly, because there have been some important events: by resisting so much the Allies arrived, the new patrons, they brought the art of Murano glass to the world attention. On this island there is space for variation of tradition and also for the break and, as Giovanna Pavani argues, this Venice Glass Week is like a symphony: syn- phōnḗ ‘a set of ‘sounds’, where there is room for melodic music and there is room for dodecaphony.“
A lot of, more than 150 are the events that will animate Venice in this special week.
Among the first appointments, on September 9, right for The Venice Glass Week, it was inaugurated the Murano Gallery LUab. The beautiful exhibition space, overlooking the Grand Canal of Murano, has hosted artists, Masters and glass art lovers, in a magical atmosphere with bright ovens and live music.
The space hosts Light Blowing, a multifaceted dialogue to present the complexity and richness of glass production today in the field of lighting, through the works by Bomma, Simone Crestan, Esther Patterson for Curiousa & Curiousa, Doris Darling, Fabio Fornasier, Jaroslav Bejvl jr. for Preciosa, VI + M Studio and Karim Rashid for Purho, Studio Furthermore, Zaha Hadid, Nendo and Nao Tamura for WonderGlass. Among the works displayed Aurora, the Sirena designed by Simona M. Favrin for Forme d’Acqua.
The opening of the exhibition is on Monday, September 11, at 7.30 pm: a great opportunity to see the splendid pieces on display at the LUab Murano gallery, calle Vivarini 6 / a, 30141 Murano, Venice.
You will be able to stay up-to-date on all the events of The Venice Glass Week that will be held in the lagoon, both through the website and official channels of The Venice Glass Week, and thanks to the app created by the H-FARM guys. The app can be downloaded from today. In an intuitive way, it can indicate date, time, place, and typology of events, directing visitors to the desired location.
All you can do is get lost in Venice and let yourself be guided by the magic of glass.
Good exploration!
