Due to extreme COVID restrictions within the Melbourne Metro area we have had to think outside our normal arteries of business. Usually at this time of year we have sold wholesale to retail galleries and are busily preparing for our most buoyant 'Direct to Public' events. This year retailers have been closed and our significant Design Markets have been cancelled. To turn these circumstances directly on their head we are opening our doors and inviting you in.
On December 5th-6th please join us for our inaugural Open Studio event. We will be diligent in following Health & Safety measures and have a COVID Safety Plan in place. To make this a viable event we have moved our Gallery Outdoors to enable you to peruse our brilliant work in an open air environment. This will surely entertain whilst waiting your turn for a glimpse inside the studio where hot glass demonstrations will take place and we will be directing opportunities to 'Make Your Own'.
Book HERE to create your own unique Paper weight or Christmas Bauble on the day.
In this 20minute one-on-one session with the expert guidance of a Master Glassblower, learn some of the basic glassblowing techniques to make a spherical or egg-shaped paperweight.
Seated at the bench on the hot shop floor, you will use glassblowing tools including jacks, blocks, paddles and punties to shape the molten glass, adding colour and pattern before placing the finished work in an annealer (a kiln that cools the piece at a controlled rate to avoid stressing and cracking the glass).
To sign up over the Open Studio weekend of December 5th-6th click here.
OUR BIENNIAL CONFERENCES ARE A TREAT THAT EVERYONE LOOKS FORWARD TO.
Our next event is scheduled for Melbourne, 5-7 February 2021* and will be as packed as ever with inspiring national and international speakers, informative content, exciting activities, opportunities to exhibit and, of course, great company. Pencil it in now! More information here.
These conferences bring together artists, designers, collectors, and enthusiasts to share ideas, information and new practices in the world of contemporary glass.
The objects of the Society are:
– To promote artistry in glass in New Zealand:
– To improve glass craft standards
– To educate the public concerning glass artistry and glass craft
– To convene glass shows, conferences and other events
The CoLab was in Whanganui, New Zealand, 15-17 February 2019, bringing together international and national artists to explore the multifaceted nature of collaboration in glass.
Welcome to the Glass Art Society’s 2020 Virtual Conference - free and open to the public!
The 2020 Conference in Småland, Sweden may be cancelled, but we have joined together with glass artists from all over the world to bring as much of the conference experience to your living room as possible! Including highlights from our partners in Sweden, we are featuring a combination of live and pre-recorded presentations, lectures, tours, happy hours, and more. Explore below to experience the magic of the Glass Art Society!
Craft ACT CEO and Artistic Director Rachael Coghlan said, “Kirstie embodies the concept of ‘care’ in everything she does; not only in the care she takes in the craftmanship of her work and her exploration of ideas and techniques in glass but also more broadly in her connection with the Australian natural landscape and her generous spirit and contribution to community. We are thrilled to be able to celebrate Kirstie’s phenomenal contribution to the development of Australian glass within the international arena and welcome her as DESIGN Canberra’s 2020 designer-in-residence.”
Now in its seventh year, DESIGN Canberra showcases the city’s thriving design community and in 2020 will present a diverse program of events, exhibitions, talks, tours, activations, markets, collaborations, artists’ studios and open homes.
Kirstie Rea was commissioned to create the 2020 signature artwork, With Care, which will feature in a Craft ACT exhibition and throughout the festival’s visual communications. The work has been created in response to the 2020 festival theme of care and the festival’s celebration of the ways that care and caring is valuable and vital during these unprecedented times.
Composed of her signature glass blankets, balanced in a threshold, Rea’s new work, With Care, is a work relevant to this time.
Kirstie Rea explained, “The form of the blanket is used as a generic symbol for comfort and care, but the glass ‘blanket’ has an obvious fragility attached to it. The doorway structure represents the inside and outside and the comings and goings of our lives over the threshold. The stack of ‘blankets’ symbolising care whether coming or going.”
“Glass, the material at the heart and core of my studio practice calls for care. Care not only in handling the material but embedded in an understanding of the material, the glass processes attached to explorations and to mastering the skills needed to work with it. The care we embed within the making reflects the care that those who taught us put into the sharing and passing on of skills, processes and knowledge and love for materials and making” said Rea.
AUSTRALIA’S LEADING GLASS ARTISTS SHINE ON WORLD STAGE AT VENICE GLASS WEEK
DESIGN Canberra’s signature exhibition GLASS UTOPIA featuring 12 Italian and Australian designers included in internationally renowned festival.
Canberra, Australia: Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre and acclaimed Italian design consulting studio Mr.Lawrence, together with 1+1 Design Gallery, Milan, will present the collective exhibition GLASS UTOPIA as part of the international Venice Glass Week from 3 until 26 September 2020.
A signature exhibition for DESIGN Canberra Festival 2019, the GLASS UTOPIA was curated by Mr.Lawrence co-founders Annalisa Rosso and Francesco Mainardi for Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre and presents a selection of 24 contemporary pieces by 12 leading Italian and Australian designers. As a realized utopia, GLASS UTOPIA tells of the new glass Renaissance that blossoms today both locally and internationally, demonstrating how the power of beauty is stronger than ever, and that creativity has no borders.
The exhibition features six Italian designers – in collaboration with many furnaces and companies from the heartland of glass Murano – and six Australian designers including: Elizabeth Kelly, Federico Peri, Gala Fernandez, Jenni Kemarre Martiniello, Liam Fleming, Matteo Zorzenoni, Mel Douglas, Peter Bowles, Stories of Italy, Tom Skeehan, Federica
Biasi, Zanellato/Bortotto.
Craft ACT CEO and Artistic Director Rachael Coghlan said, “DESIGN Canberra’s first international tour, to Venice Glass Week and Milan Design Week no less, is a momentous opportunity to celebrate the global context for Australian contemporary craft and design, and through that, to promote creative industries generally.”
CRAFT VICTORIA – Craft & Design Centre, Victoria – Australia
Craft Victoria is a national leader in the craft and design sector, promoting a cutting-edge vision of hand-crafted practice in the 21st century. For 50 years Craft Victoria has supported the growth of thousands of makers, nurtured hundreds of small creative businesses and challenged the boundaries of craft practice. Craft has built a vibrant and sustainable contemporary craft and design community by supporting, showcasing and celebrating all craft disciplines.
Craft is the only organisation within Victoria which provides curatorial, public program and professional development opportunities for craft practitioners. Craft’s headquarters in Melbourne has become a hub for audiences and makers working across ceramics, furniture, jewellery, textiles, fibre and glass to gather, view, discuss and celebrate works by many of Australia’s most highly regarded craft practitioners.
Craft Victoria’s gallery and maker showcase spaces provide opportunities for hundreds of makers each year to exhibit their works, increasing visibility and the potential for income generation through sales and commissions. Tens of thousands of people visit Craft each year to view our exhibitions which uniquely focus on artists who demonstrate an astonishing level of skill and transformation of materials.
Craft Victoria’s Mission
It is Craft Victoria’s mission to encourage a high standard of craftsmanship, to widen the interest in craft throughout Australia and abroad, and present a cutting-edge vision of craft making in the 21st century.
Object Platform is a place that exists in the digital sphere to experiment, prototype new thinking, spark physical provocations and commission new content. It brings the Australian Design Centre’s thinking beyond its four walls – beyond the exhibitions, events and objects – through long-form articles, research papers, online exhibition, webinars and live interviews, as well as conference presentations, lectures, panels, forums, films, audio tours and a writer-in-residence program.
This program is part of Australian Design Centre’s ongoing research into object, furniture, lighting and industrial design, fashion design, architecture, crafts, ceramics, jewellery, textile arts, glass, timber and mixed media.
It consolidates a large body of original writing, research and content published over ADC’s 50+ year history, including Object magazine(published 1996 – 2009 and digitally 2011-2012) and a series of full-length catalogues, the latest of which includes Obsessed: Compelled to make, and Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft: Prue Venables.
Future areas of research might include: ethical design, placemaking through design and craft, maker societies and cultural meaning, cross-cultural collaboration, multi-disciplinary and hybrid approaches to craft, lost and traditional crafts, creativity and wellbeing, women in design, jobs of the future, design for social justice, innovation in materials and process, sustainable design and new technologies.
