European Glass Experience

What is it?

EGE - European Glass Experience is about the complex world of glass, searching new artistic forms to express its ancient and magnificent art craft tradition.
When we talk about the world of glass, we call to mind craftsmen creating in their furnaces, artists inspiring the craftsmen, designers working for industrial production and designers dedicated to glassmaking in their glass studios.
For this reason, EGE project wants to focus on the great and undiscovered potential of using glass in pure art, to develop art forms primarily for aesthetics and/or intellectual purposes and not to serve some specific practical function.

EGE aims to give glass a new recognition in contemporary art.

EGE intends to emphasise the potential of glass art to represent the world, the identity of a culture and of a civilization: Europe. This is the glass experience that the EGE project wants to propose to European citizens, to make them feel part of the same culture.

Starting from an intuition of Promovetro, the Murano artistic glass producers’ consortium, that looks with great interest at the new trends of glass used in contemporary art, the EGE project brings together three European Glass Museums that will design a common itinerary of art production and exhibitions. The leading role will be recognised to artists/craftmen, to citizens/visitors and to their mutual knowledge. Museums will stay between them, working to give, to artists, the opportunity to create and exhibit their artwork, and to citizens, the opportunity to participate in the creative process.
EGE is coordinated by the City of Venice, and co-financed by the European Programme Culture 2007-2013.

Why do we do it?

The EGE project general objective is to enhance a European common heritage, the Glass Art, that have a significant unexploited potential in terms of production of artwork, in terms of innovations brought by artists and in terms of heritage enjoyment by the general public. EGE project aim is to put glass back at the centre of attention and discussion on the European art scene to safeguard the European glass art cultural heritage made of tradition, technical know-how, personal aesthetics and innovative trends.
This will be achieved by the joint work of three of the major EU glass museums - Murano Glass Museum, The Finnish Glass Museum in Riihimaki and Glass Museum in La Granja - owning relevant glass collections, with the coordination of the City of Venice and Promovetro, the Murano artistic glass producers’ consortium, that will bridge the artists to the craftsmen and will promote communication actions to enlarge the glass art lovers network at EU level.
The specific objectives of the project are:
1) to foster the transnational mobility of young artists, giving them the opportunity to show their works in favorable conditions to their acknowledgment on the international artistic scene.
2) to foster the creation of a network of glass art lovers (museums, foundations, collections, specialists, etc.) in order to give full recognition to glass art in Europe.
3) to support the circulation of glass artworks, through the creation of an itinerary of three exhibitions organized by three important glass museum in the European Union.
4) to promote the intercultural dialogue, through the collaboration among artists of various cultures and through the sharing, with the public, of the skills of making art with glass. This process will aim at broadening one’s artistic capacity, to make contemporary glass creations internationally readable and to transmit the underlying message that working with various cultures help consolidating the European culture.

In the medium and long term, the project results will be:
1) A long-lasting cooperation established among the three museums, in a growing collaboration with other glass involved realities in Europe which will become associated partners to the project, (Smålands Museum in Sweden, Stained Glass Museum in Kraków and the International Festival of Glass held in Stourbridge UK are already associated partners).
2) New artworks of young artists included in the museum collections.
3) An increased awareness in Europe and among European citizens on the role of glass in contemporary art.
4) Innovative tools created to draw public into glass art (websites, exhibition trailer, social networks etc…).

How does it work?

EGE is divided into two sections: previously unreleased artworks, and sketches for future artworks, according to a specific call for artists.

The artworks and sketches will be selected by a jury, and all chosen works will participate to three exhibitions.
Thus the effective part EGE will consist of three different exhibitions, with a common theme.

The first exhibition will be held at The Finnish Glass Museum in Riihimaki, the second one at Glass Museum in La Granja, and the last one at the Murano Glass Museum.
The first exhibition will expose 20 previously unreleased artworks created by artists selected among all those who participated at the official call. Furthermore a selection of 80 sketches for future artworks, to be realised in Murano, will be presented.
The second exhibition will expose 20 unreleased selected artworks, different from the previous ones, and again the 80 sketches, while the third and final exhibition will expose the 40 previous artworks, and a further selection of 20 artworks, chosen among the 80 sketches, and realised in Murano, by the Murano Glass companies, associated to Promovetro.
EGE is open to all European citizen not older than 40.