The international festival dedicated to the art of glass returns for a third edition: more than 150 organisations and individuals will stage over 180 events around Venice, Murano and Mestre between 7th to 15th September 2019. The festival will include exhibitions, guided tours, conferences, seminars, award ceremonies, film screenings, educational activities, a non-competititive race around Murano, parties, receptions and open furnaces.
In 2018 the Veneto Region officially designated The Venice Glass Week as one of the “Major Events” taking place within its borders, and this important status has been conferred on the festival once again in 2019.
Unlike previous editions, this year applicants were asked to propose new projects specifically conceived for The Venice Glass Week. Hundreds of applications were received and evaluated by the Curatorial Committee. The high volume of applications, which were submitted by foundations, art galleries, museums, cultural institutions, universities, higher education institutes as well as glassworks, furnaces, companies, artists and private Italian and foreign collectors, confirms the dynamism and vitality of Venice. This year The Venice Glass Week’s Organising Committee has established a new Prize entitled Bonhams Prize for The Venice Glass Week, which is intended to reward the commitment of the festival’s participants and to stimulate an even more significant engagement in future editions. The Prize is sponsored by the Modern Decorative Art and Design Department (New York) of Bonhams, an international auction house founded in 1793, which is one of the largest and most important auction houses in the world specialising in fine art, ancient art, cars and jewellery. In conjunction with the opening weekend of the festival, the first edition of NOMAD Venice – the travelling showcase for collectable design – will be held at Palazzo Soranzo Van Axel from 5th to 8th September.
The festival is promoted by the Town Council of Venice and conceived by three of Venice’s principal cultural institutions with considerable experience and expertise in the field of glass – Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, Fondazione Giorgio Cini and Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti – along with the most important trade association, the Consorzio Promovetro Murano, which also manages the Vetro Artistico® Murano trademark of the Veneto Region.
Information about all events in the festival programme will be available in due course on the website www.theveniceglassweek.com and on The Venice Glass Week’s social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).