From 12 to 20 September the lagoon celebrates the event spread between Venice, Murano and Mestre. Discover the 236 unmissable events of the tenth edition
Autumn in Venice is a succession of events. Not even time to know the winner of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival – this evening the Golden Lion selected by the jury led by Maggie will be awarded – before the attention is already entirely on artistic craftsmanship. In fact, the tenth edition of the Venice Glass Week opens today, involving the streets of the city, the island of Murano and Mestre. Promoted and organized by the Municipality of Venice, the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, LE STANZE DEL VETRO – Fondazione Giorgio Cini and Pentagram Stiftung, the Veneto Institute of Sciences, Letters and Arts and the Consorzio Promovetro Murano, The Venice Glass Week until 20 September will show the extraordinary nature of glass manufacturing, through 236 events in 140 locations, 311 participants and nominations from 57 countries around the world. «We are particularly happy to celebrate the tenth anniversary of The Venice Glass Week», explained the Organizing Committee, «When we started the festival in 2017, our goal was to relaunch attention on Venetian glass in all its dimensions: artistic, cultural and productive. Ten years later, the constant growth in participation, the increase in visitors and the increasingly strong interest from an international public confirm the value of the collective work built over time. In recent years, Venice has been able to create a system around one of the most identifying expressions of its history and its community, transforming The Venice Glass Week into an event capable of combining tradition, innovation and international openness”. But don’t expect a retro programme, the Venice Glass Week is a widespread exhibition that combines tradition with the avant-garde, involving contemporary big names such as Norman Foster Foundation, Cerith Wyn Evans, Chiara Dynys, Richard Meitner and Bethan Laura Wood to name just a few names. Thanks to the scientific committee chaired by Rosa Barovier Mentasti and her team, which includes, among others, Rainald Franz, Head of the Glass and Ceramics Collection at the MAK-Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art in Vienna and Susanne Jøker Johnsen, Head of Exhibitions at the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation in Copenhagen, the glass week is a journey that starts from the end of the 1200s to touch the future of virtual reality. Moreover, as highlighted by Banca Ifisi, sponsor of the initiative, which analyzed local data, in the Murano district alone there are 160 companies that employ over 900 people and generate a total turnover of close to 180 million euros, a value which rises to 288 million euros if the entire supply chain is considered. An Italian heritage, which in 10 years has grown in turnover by 72%, which creates wealth and which the whole world envies us. The events not to be missed start from the heart of Venice with Piazza San Marco: under the vaults of the Procuratie Vecchie, twelve international designers have created as many site-specific installations on the theme of the chandelier. Not only that, for the first time, the collective exhibition of The Venice Glass Week HUB by Generali is set up at Palazzo Morosini in Campo Santo Stefano, with over 50 international artists and designers; at the Gallery in Piazza San Marco of the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, however, the focus is on emerging talent with forty names to keep an eye on as part of The Venice Glass Week HUB Under35. Finally, like every year, three prizes will be awarded: on Thursday 17th the winners of the Venice Foundation Award for The Venice Glass Week will be announced; the Arteria Award and the The Studio – Corning Museum Of Glass award.
