Venice and
the Glass
. An essential bond lasting now for centuries, thanks to the activity of
the Murano glass factories, among the most famous and valued in the world.
A symbol, a
metaphor of the city itself: so shining, with fine workmanship, but fragile,
delicate and in danger of disappearing at the same time.
This year
Sist'Art Gallery decided to
open the doors of the Deconsecrated Chapel in Saint
Mark’s Square to the Venice Glass Week
, one of the most important annual events
in the world to promote and protect high quality glass craftsmanship, which
takes place
from September 9th to 17th 2023
.
From September 12th to October 17th Sist’Art Gallery is hosting a collaboration with Davide
Salvadore
, one of the last
Great Glass Masters
in the world.
Davide
descends from a family of artisans, who passed down the knowledge of
the art of glass from generation to generation.
He worked
in the largest and most important foundries in Murano, combining manual skills
with an important artistic and design taste, qualities that led him to collaborate
with brands such as
Roberta di Camerino, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior,
Swatch
.
In 2012 he
opened his own artistic studio, "
studiosalvadore
", managed by his
sons Mattia and Marco, together with some selected assistants.
The taste for African art was born in the 80s, when the artist was fascinated by the image of an African woman carrying vases above her head. The representation of musical instruments is also connected to a world which appears different from the Western and technological one. It is also due to the great passion the maestro harbors for music and sound.
At the Sist'Chapel, a true artistic journey is presented with the aim to join Western culture, represented by Venice and its glass manufacturing activity, with the African one.
A transposition of a theme that has become more relevant in recent years: a celebration of the brotherhood of peoples, of the coexistence and of the fusion of several cultures.
There are shown a series of
musical instruments, totems and statuettes of women, symbols of fertility, with
an almost primitivist taste, creating a journey and some 'islands'.
All the objects are made of colored glass using a unique mix of
techniques that only the greatest masters in the world can master
: blowing
using murrine and layered canes (when the glass is hot) and engraving and
beating (when it’s cold).
The final
result is: real sculptures with an almost three-dimensional, rough, jagged
looking surface in a thoughtful and deliberate way, capable of giving a
character and a distinctive sign.
Art and craftsmanship come together in Davide’s work and are proudly presented by Sist'Art to safeguard those skills that risk being lost.