Thanks to a joint initiative of the Giorgio Cini Foundation and Pentagram Stiftung, in 2012 the Glass Study Centre was founded within the Institute of Art History.

Now a fundamental point of reference for the study of art glass, over the years the archive has progressively collected precious documentary nuclei belonging to the major historic glassworks in Murano, largely made up of drawings and plans, correspondence and period photographic reproductions, which now constitute irreplaceable collections of materials made available to the scientific community to encourage the safeguarding, research and valorisation of modern and contemporary glass art.

Among the analogical archives housed in the Centre are Aureliano Toso, Barovier Seguso and Ferro, M.V.M. Cappellin & C., Pauly & C. – C.V.M, Seguso Vetri d’Arte, Società Veneziana Conterie, and Vetrerie Antonio Salviati. The repertoire also includes the signatures of some of the most renowned glass designers, including Emmanuel Babled, Fulvio Bianconi, Luigi Scarpa Croce, Dino Martens, Flavio Poli, Ginny Ruffner, Carlo Scarpa, Peter Shire, Vinicio Vianello. More recently, the prestigious archives of well-known contemporary artists such as Cristiano Bianchin, Silvano Rubino, Giorgio Vigna, and the great master glassmaker Pino Signoretto have been received.

 

The Centre also organises temporary exhibitions, conferences and seminars aimed at the general public, the city’s universities, and Italian and foreign scholars in residence on the Island of San Giorgio and beyond. The themes addressed are from time to time an in-depth study of those in the specific exhibition in progress at the STANZE DEL VETRO exhibition space and are intended for those interested in the history, technologies and developments in the art of glassmaking. In planning these activities – especially in conjunction with Venice Glass Week – strategies have been adopted to highlight the special features of its archive collections, with increasing attention also being paid to the exhibition and promotion of contemporary and still active artists and designers.

 

The Centre has always focused on the systematic registration of its archival heritage and the implementation of digitisation campaigns. To date, the digital registry includes the materials pertaining to the vast archive, graphic and photographic, of the Seguso Vetri d’Arte glassworks, which well documents the rich production line of the historic furnace from 1932 to 1973. There is also the archive of the artist Vinicio Vianello, a central figure of Spatialism, a great experimenter also in the field of glass art. His ‘Atomic’ vases are famous, as are his lighting and design models.

 

Among the digital fonds available are those of well-known contemporary artists also active in Murano: Ginny Ruffner, Peter Shire, as well as some large projects by Emmanuel Babled. Finally, the Dino Martens archive has been digitised.