“After the conclusion of the project, the project partners and regional funders aim to establish the European Networking Platform and start-up activities (…) on a permanent base. It is expected that from an initial focus on former Glass Works trainees, the platform will gradually grow and integrate individual artists and artisans, as well as new businesses, and other institutions in glass on a border-crossing base. A coordination and international communication hub will be located at Bild-Werk Frauenau with the help of regional and trans-regional funding (…).”
This was stated in 2018 in the EU project application for Glass-Works – we are working on it in Frauenau, Graz and on Bornholm! In Frauenau, our goal is to continue assisting young artists to become fit for self-employment. . In addition, we want to build a new institutional infrastructure for collaborative work with glass, as well as for networking and marketing of glass makers. In parallel with the international summer academy Bild-Werk Frauenau, we seek to expand our artistic programs. In the hot glass studio, small-scale manufacturing (e.g. in work residencies) shall be made possible. We would like to collect knowledge and know-how on energy-efficient glassmaking through contacts in European scenes for studio furnace construction. Results, information and contacts would be documented and fed back into practice.
Since the summer of 2021, we have had extensive discussions with experts from regional management and regional politics, from art funding and intangible cultural heritage in Bavaria. Here we find open ears: In Frauenau, old glass culture and studio glass come together. The international network and the open teaching concept of Bild-Werk offers unique future potential that we intend to develop. Where, if not here; when, if not now, can it continue in the glass?
