glass – hand formed matter

This international exhibition project, organised in cooperation with universities, glass manufacturers and cultural institutions, offers new perspectives on manual glass production in Germany and Europe. Glassmakers, artists, designers and students from Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, as well as from Finland and Sweden are working together to reinterpret and advance the over 1,000-year-old handicraft of glass manufacturing. Incorporating analogue and digital tools and discussions on current issues, the organisers plan to stage numerous workshops and residency programmes at the participating glass manufacturers in order to find innovative, aesthetic, functional and sustainable design solutions. The artistic investigation of new possibilities and their resulting products will be presented together in a touring exhibition starting at the Berlin Bröhan Museum and continuing to the Finnish Riihimäki Glass Museum and The Glass Factory in the Swedish town of Boda. The Saxony-Anhalt Art Foundation and the Thuringian State Cultural Foundation in cooperation with local winemakers, water companies and nutritional experts will hold a special exhibition on glass drinking vessels. The accompanying events aim to generate national and international enthusiasm among young people for the art of glassmaking which the UNESCO has distinguished as the intangible cultural heritage in several European countries. The project will also operate its own website to present newly acquired knowledge and proposed solutions.

Artistic director: Barbara Schmidt
Project assistance and mediation: Julia Wolf 

Participants: Dachroth + Jeschonnek, Patricia Ribault, Maja Heuer, Peter Kuchinke, Torsten Rötzsch, Kirsti Taiviola, Tue Greenfort, Anette Rose, Ingela Johansson, Maria Bang Esperson, BOOM!, Un/Making studio: Kristina Lindström, Åsa Ståhl und Soil Laboratory: Riikka Latva-Somppi, Maarit Mäkelä, Tzuyu Chen, Anu Pentinnen, Helmi Remes, Hanna Hansdotter

Exhibition venues and supporting organisations: Bröhan-Museum, The Glass Factory, The Finnish Glass Museum, Saxony-Anhalt Art Foundation, Thuringian State Cultural Foundation, Museum Baruther Glashütte, Gerhard Bürger Stiftung and Glasmanufaktur Harzkristall