The Press Conference for the Inauguration of TheItalian Glass Weeks, the main European event that Italy dedicates to industrial, artistic and design glass. The kermesse, staged in Milan from Saturday 10 September, will animate the Lombard capital until Sunday 18 and will continue in Venice from 17 September until 25.
The inauguration press conference was held in one of the landmarks for the Milanese week: Castello Sforzesco. The Castle, symbol of the city of Milan, will in fact host exhibitions, workshops and guided tours for adults and children; will therefore become on the occasion of The Italian Glass Weekyes, the "Milan Art & Families Lab", where all the characteristics of glass will be illustrated, starting from its history in art, from its origin to the present day.
The "landlord" initiated the press conference Claudius Salsi, Director Superintendent of the Castle Area, Archaeological Museum and Historical Museums. Salsi underlined the attention that the Castello Sforzesco museum has always reserved for artistic and industrial glass, through acquisitions, competitions and initiatives aimed at its promotion.
Following, Elena Grandi, Councilor for the Environment and Greenery of the Municipality of Milan, reiterated the pride with which the Municipality of Milan supports The Italian Glass Weekif its protagonist: glass, a symbol of a sustainability that is as topical and necessary as ever.
The President of GIMAV e VITRUM, Dino ZandonellaNecca, specified the crucial role played by glass, which led the United Nations to establish theInternational Year for this material. The Italy of glass, an international leader in terms of art and home to an advanced technological heritage, is called, not only on the occasion of Glass Weeks, to act unitedly to make the population and the younger generations aware of the excellence of this material for the future of science, industry, culture, architecture and the environment.
Thought shared with pride by Luciano Gambaro, President of the Promovetro Murano Consortium, who underlined the potential of The Italian project Glass Weeks. In fact, Venice will be enlivened by over 260 events of a different nature, capable of exhibiting the splendor of the Venetian and Murano glass culture.
Gambaro, however, also reaffirmed the concern of the glass sector, deeply destabilized by the current energy crisis.
Fabrizio Cattaneo, Chief Executive Officer of Vitrum, highlighted the peculiarities of the Milanese week, which, however, is part of a firmly cohesive project at a national level and with a profound international inspiration.
And he briefly presented the road map, the events and the hubs that will illuminate Milan during the event.
Jean Blanchaert, gallerist and curator, instead launched the watchword of the first edition of The Italian Glass Weeks: passion. Passion is in fact what unites Milan and Venice in this ambitious and courageous challenge, during a complicated period for the artistic and industrial glass supply chain.
Also Paula Mar, Councilor for the Promotion of the Territory, Heritage, University and Toponymy of the Municipality of Venice, reiterated the crucial function of passion and enthusiasm in this project shared between the Venetian and Lombard capitals, despite the current difficulties.
Councilor Mar then affirmed as The Italian Glass Weeks is an unmissable opportunity to take a tour of Venice experiencing different and unforgettable places and experiences. But TIGW2022, as he is keen to point out, also represents a strategic opportunity for the process of internationalization of Made in Italy glass and its various realities and supply chains.
The following also took part as a partner of the event: CoReVe, through the words of the President Gianni Scotti, and the AIHV Italian National Committee, through those of the President Marina Uboldi.
President Scotti emphasized the recycling of glass, a material that, since Roman times, has inspired a virtuous process of circular economy. Scotti also recalled the numbers of the Consortium: 2.500.000 tons of recovered glass waste and more than 7.800 affiliated municipalities, with a recycling rate higher than 76,5% (remember that the European target aims at 75% by 2030 ). Promovetro has also prepared a intervention worth 10 million to support Italian municipalities in projects to improve separate glass collection.
Marina Uboldi, President of the Italian National Committee of theAssociation internationale pour l’histoire du verre, instead exposed the vision of scholars and archaeologists engaged in historical-scientific research related to glass. And the role played by the Committee in the promotion and organization of guided visits to the Castello Sforzesco and other Milanese museums, where prestigious collections of ancient and modern glass are kept.
At the end of the press conference, Uboldi herself inaugurated the photo exhibition "Milan of glass: from antiquity to contemporary", organized by the Italian National Committee AIHV, in collaboration with Castello Sforzesco e VITRUM, and with the patronage of Icom Glass.
The exhibition, curated by Maria Grazia Diani, Fiorella Mattio, Cristina Tonini and Marina Uboldi, presents a selection of the most significant glass works from Milanese museums and city buildings. And invites visitors to The Italian Glass Weekknows how to discover the excellence of glass in the museums and places of culture of the Lombard capital.
The exhibition will be open every day from 7 to 19.30, until Sunday 25 September.
