Murano Today. Emotions of glass

Glass. The island of Murano. A great history. Countless chapters with many more to write. With the objective of creating a didactic aid as a continuation of the history of Murano glass, the Museum has therefore decided to mount this exhibition. It is never easy to recount the present but today the challenge is too important: reminding the world and reaffirming that artistic glass is produced on Murano, its centuries-old techniques and the boldness of those who are able to translate the evocativeness of this incandescent material are as alive as ever. Thus, “Murano Today” is more than a simple exhibition because through its testimony, it enciphers a historic moment that reveals renewed interest in the universe of glass and a material that is as malleable as it is difficult to shape, reflecting a silent feeling by translating the extreme expressive potential of an intuition. The occasion to immerge ourselves in contemporaneity thus materialises, and we find ourselves looking at works signed by designers, and others conceived and created by glass masters. We shall see ancient techniques, reappraisals and experiments that combine the rediscovered communicative power of glass today because it embodies the fragility of a world that is trying, in spite of itself, to conquer its own identity in an attempt to recognise itself in one that is ‘new’ whilst still in the past, despite tirelessly trying to reach out towards a new chromatic and aesthetic euphony. Some we will recognise more than others but it will always be a dialogue with art in the sense of a sublime expression of talents that in glass have captured all the nuances of an interpretive palette and an interiorised narrative, one that is increasingly uncertain and fragile, but also more connected to its surroundings. Grateful thanks go to everyone who participated in this undertaking because it is by working together as a group that we can highlight that Murano today is not clinging to its great and indisputable past, but is asserting itself with innovative pride and experimental obstinacy so that tomorrow will be as inevitable as the certainty that the DNA of glass flows here on this island in the lagoon. This is the real, and unique difference that will always make Murano glass special, not by choice but by definition. Remembering it and not letting it be forgotten is the real, unique and demanding challenge. Curated by Gabriella Belli and Chiara Squarcina

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