“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 workers. 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?
