The international festival dedicated to the art of glass aims to support the Murano glass sector - which is recovering and restarting with optimism - whilst highlighting the timeless energy of glass, and addressing younger audiences in particularThe programme will feature a variety of new highlights including the frst edition of theFondazionedi Venezia Prize for the best project in the festival, and the awarding of the prestigiousGlass inVenice Prize by the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti and Fondazione Musei Civici diVenezia to artists Federica Marangoni and Mauro BonaventuraVENICE, 16th July 2021 -The Venice Glass Week, the international festival founded in 2017 tocelebrate, support and promote the art of glassmaking - the artistic and economic activity forwhich Venice has been known around the world for over a thousand years - is now in itsffthedition, and will be held in Venice, Murano and Mestre from4th to 12th September 2021. Thisyear’s event has a new"title-hashtag"#VivaVetro! – a cheer of enthusiasm - also expressedvisually via the spectrum of colours in the new graphic image - which is designed to convey thetimeless energy of the material of glass, and aims to give support and renewed vigour to thesector of Murano glass production which, after months of closure, is recovering and restartingwith optimism. This support also translates into the awarding ofthree prizes: the ninth edition oftheGlass in Venice Prize, the second edition of theAutonoma Residency Prize and the frstedition of theFondazione di Venezia Prize for The Venice Glass Week. The festival also continuesto cater for those unable to reach Venice in person, thanks to the digital programme whichincludes the second edition of Conversations on Glass by Apice.Once again, this yearThe Venice Glass Week - an initiative promoted by theComune di Veneziaand conceived by theFondazione Musei Civici di Venezia,Fondazione Giorgio Cini-LESTANZE DEL VETRO,Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti and by the most importantorganization associated with the glass sector,Consorzio Promovetro Murano, which managesthe trademark of the Veneto Region Vetro Artistico® Murano - is part of the programme of “GreatEvents” supported by the Regione del Veneto.#VIVAVETRO! A FESTIVAL FOR NEW GENERATIONSThe Venice Glass Week 2021 is payingparticular attention to new generations:children andteenagers - Italians and foreigners, with their families and their classes - are the primary targetsof exhibitions and events that have been designed with them in mind, with the aim of drawingthem closer to the multi-faceted world of artistic glass, stimulating their curiosity and engagingtheir interest.

Chief amongst these are the exhibitionsThe Glass Ark. Animals in the Pierre RosenbergCollection at LE STANZE DEL VETRO on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, and the new showMurano Glass Toys organised by the Consorzio Promovetro Murano at the Museo del Vetro. Thefestival isn’t just tailored for children alone:young people in general will also receive specialattention: after the success of 2020,The Venice Glass Week HUB under 35 - an exhibitionspace expressly dedicated to the glass artworks of Italian and foreign artists and designers under35 – will return, underlining how the festival aims to provide a platform and showcase for youngtalents from all over the world, also from the point of view of glass production.All of thesespecial initiatives aimed at visitors who will come to Venice in September -TheVenice Glass Week Tours by Nexa and theKids' Programme by Artsystem, created incollaboration with the festival’s partners Nexa Event & Travel designers and Artsystem – havebeen conceived with a view to facilitating a dialogue with families of adults and children, and aredesigned both to entertain and educate, demonstrating the inclusive spirit ofThe Venice GlassWeek.

THE FESTIVAL IN THE CITYHundreds of applications were received by the Festival Coordinator ofThe Venice Glass Weekand selected by theCuratorial Committee,chaired by the Venetian glass historian RosaBarovier Mentasti and composed of a team of experts in the glass sector at an international level,which this year includes new members Rainald Franz, Head of the Glass and Ceramics CollectionatMAK-Austrian Museum of Applied Arts /Contemporary Art, andSusanne Jøker Johnsen,Head of Exhibitions at The Royal Danish Academy - Architecture, Design, Conservation andDirector of European Glass and Ceramic Context on the island of Bornholm in Denmark. They arejoined by curator and critic Jean Blanchaert, together with artist and creative director MarcantonioBrandolini d'Adda, both of whom have served on the Committee before.The applications, which were submitted by foundations, art galleries, museums, culturalinstitutions, universities, higher education institutes, glass companies, furnaces, companies,artists, designers and private Italian and foreign collectors, confrm the vitality of Venice’s artistic,cultural and glass production scene, and are a strong indication of the ever-growing internationalinterest in the feld of glass, despite the difculties linked to the pandemic that slowed the worldin 2020.The city-wide programme ofThe Venice Glass Week, as is tradition, will consist of arich anddiverse spread of initiatives dispersed across the territory, involving Mestre as well as Veniceand Murano. The initiatives – which are mostly free of charge - will all have artistic glass at theircore, and will appeal to audiences of all ages, with particular attention to young people and theirfamilies.The list of participants is presented here: the complete programme of the ffth edition ofThe Venice Glass Week will be the subject of a second Press Conference, scheduled for earlySeptember 2021.

Following the appreciation of previous editions, one of the key centres of the festival will beThe Venice Glass Week HUB in Campo Santo Stefano, at thePalazzo Loredan headquarters of theIstituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, which once again will host a selection of works byaround twenty Italian and international artists and designers, as well as works and projects byffteen young artists and designers aged under 35 in the HUB Under35, a dedicated space on theground foor of the building.Great attention will be given this year tothe art ofglass beads, which was recently awardedIntangible Cultural Heritage status by UNESCO, with a series of initiatives organized in Mestreand Venice bythe Comune di Venezia together with theFondazione Musei Civici di Venezia:Perle in Vetrina is the difused exhibition in shop windows which will display original glassnecklaces created by important contemporary masters and designers. From 6th September to6th October in Forte Marghera visitors will be able to admire the photographic exhibitionPerle1.0 - Perlere and Impiraresse. Immagini tra ieri e oggi per raccontare un'arte,whichrecounts the craft of glass beads andimpiraresse from the twentieth century to today. Adults andchildren will also be able to participate in bead workshops taking place in Mestre, Forte Margheraand on the Lido. In Venice, Palazzo Mocenigo will host the beaded fowers of Benedetta Gaggia,and the conference dedicated to the topic of The history of glass beads.

The initiatives organised byThe Venice Glass Week Organising Committee include theaforementioned exhibitionThe Glass Ark. Animals in the Pierre Rosenberg Collection, curatedby Giordana Naccari and Cristina Beltrami, whose (free) opening to the public atLE STANZEDEL VETRO, on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, has been extended until 1st November 2021,specifcally in order to form part of the festival with which it shares its spirit and target audience.The exhibition traces - in an original and engaging way, designed especially for young people -the history of Murano glass in the twentieth century through a highly unusual angle:the glassanimal. The 750+ pieces on display - including elephants, dogs, hippos, cats, girafes,mammoths, bears, parrots, fsh, turtles, foxes, and even tiny insects made in full-scale lampworkby Bruno Amadi - belong to the personal collection which Pierre Rosenberg, previously Directorof the Louvre Museum in Paris, put together over thirty years of regular time spent in Venice.From 4th September to 3rd October the newMurano Glass Toys exhibition will be open to thepublic at theMuseo del Vetro on Murano, curated by architect Matteo Silverio and organized bytheConsorzio Promovetro Murano with the support of theRegione del Veneto and theCamera di Commercio di Venezia Rovigo.

Murano Glass Toys, an initiative conceived with theaim of promoting the regional brandVetro Artistico® Murano, is an ambitious project,characterized by an innovative setting: no longer a glass exhibition to "look at but not touch", buta real interactive and multimedia installation, a room where the visitor can play and be amazed.The project involves fourteen Murano glass masters from as many concessionary companies oftheVetro Artistico® Murano brand who have put themselves to the test for the occasion,addressing a theme far from their usual production. InMurano Glass Toys, glass lives, moves andinteracts with the viewer: in this magical atmosphere, visitors can experience or relive theemotions related to their childhood and youth.As usual, there will be events designed for specialists in the sector: theIstituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti presents the ninth edition of theStudy Days on Venetian Glass, one ofthe most important annual events for international glass scholars, from 8th to 10th September2021 at Palazzo Franchetti. The event, reserved for people who have enrolled on the course, willinvolvethirty glass experts from all over Europe and the United States, including museumconservators, scholars, collectors, restorers, glass artists.

The three-day programme includesseminars, lectures, visits and practical demonstrations of ancient techniques, with documentsand sessions with scholars.THE PRIZES9th September 2021, in the heart of the glass week, will be a special day because it will see theawarding ceremony of three important prizes in the context of the ffth edition of the festival.Palazzo Franchetti will host the award ceremony for the winners of the ninth edition of theprestigious Glass in Venice Prize, organized by the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti andthe Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia: the recognition is given to artists and glass masters whohave particularly distinguished themselves with their work, working in the great Murano tradition,or, elsewhere in the world, with diferent schools and techniques. This year's winners are theartistsFederica Marangoni, with the awarding of the Lifetime Achievement Award, andMauroBonaventura. From 4th to 12th September works by the winners will be exhibited in theatmospheric setting of the atrium of Palazzo Loredan, amongst the marble efgies of thePanteonVeneto which brings together the busts of illustrious fgures who were either born or lived inVenice.New for 2021 is the institution of the frstFondazione di Venezia Prize for The Venice GlassWeek, which will be awarded to the best project in the festival. All participants inThe VeniceGlass Week 2021 will automatically be considered as candidates for the prize, which will beawarded thanks to the support of the Fondazione di Venezia.

The winner will receive a cash prizeof € 1,000.00 and, at the discretion of the Jury - composed of the curator Jean Blanchaert, theChancellor of the Istituto Veneto Giovanna Palandri and the General Councillor of the Fondazionedi Venezia Paola Marini – a special mention may be given to a maximum of two other originalprojects.Meanwhile, the Italian and international artists and designers under the age of 35 exhibiting in theHUB under35 will be considered as candidates for the second edition of theAutonomaResidency Prize, promoted by LagunaB through the Autonoma project, in association with therenowned American Pilchuck Glass School: a prize which will enable the winner to undertake atwo-month residency at the Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle (USA) in 2022.

THE DIGITAL PROGRAMME:CONVERSATIONS ON GLASS AND THE SPECIAL PROJECTSTHE VENICE GLASS WEEK TOURS AND KIDS' PROGRAMMEOnce again this year,The Venice Glass Week ofers an original programme of digital eventsproduced by the festival, including the prestigiousConversations on Glass by Apice, the seriesof discussions in English with international fgures from the world of glass, specially designed toinvolve the international public. These "conversations", created in collaboration with Apice, arenowned transport company for works of art, will be broadcast live on the YouTube channel ofThe Venice Glass Week from 4th to 12th September. This year, moreover,two of the sevenappointments will be held “in-person” at Palazzo Franchetti, headquarters of the Istituto Venetodi Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. The conversations, involving high-level national and internationalspeakers, are intended to be a platform for refections on the world of glass, in preparation for2022, which will be the United Nations International Year of Glass.The Venice Glass Week Tours by Nexa –the festival’s ofcial guided tours - are also back,organized in collaboration with Nexa, a Venice-based event organisation agency specialising inhigh-level international projects. The main focus of these experiences is the opportunity towitness the magic of artistic glass production in person, in a series of fascinating locations. Thetours, which for the frst time will take place in part also online, will be themed and will involvefurnaces, ateliers and companies in Venice and Murano selected by Nexa to enable visitors toappreciate the timeless value of an art which is in constant evolution, through the hands ofmasters and artists at work. The tours, both in terms of logistics and content, will be entrusted toprofessional guides, specially trained by Nexa regarding the production and history of glass, bothin Murano and internationally.This year The Venice Glass Week will ofer more special events dedicated to children and familiesthan ever before, under the umbrella of theKids' Program by Artsystem, created incollaboration with the festival’s Venice-based partner Artsystem, which has always beencommitted to organising educational activities for young and old. From Saturday 4th to Sunday12th September 2021, the public will be able to participate in the game-activityTROVAVETRO.On the street of beads!, while from Monday 6th to Friday 10th September there will be anotheractivity for children and teenagers: Walking on the glass wire.Full information about all of the initiatives will soon be available on the websitewww.theveniceglassweek.com, created by the companyD’Uva di Firenze, technical sponsorof the festival, and on the event’ssocial media profles (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram andYouTube).