| Original Message: Re: Venice conference! just got home |
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it was lovely to be in Venice- i stayed with some friends i'd hoped to visit anyway.
in the Abate Zanetti glass art school on Murano there were about perhaps 30 or 40 people? all from the local bead industry, makers, dealers, wholesalers, retailers, archivists and the museum, and one or two collectors.
everything was in Italian and i picked up only some general concerns. so corrections and comments welcome! chairman was Augusto Panini with assistance from Dottoressa Chiara Squarcina -the glass museum director. other speakers were: Gianni Moretti Salvatore Sito of S. U. V. Marco Verita Ivano Ferro Andrea Tosi and Luigi Ferrigno Cristina Bedin i also recognised and met among those attending- Giorgio Terruzzi, Luigi Cattelan, Gianni deCarlo- in the evening one or two of us were allowed to see the museum exhibit that shows the beads and sample cards in Augusto Panini's fantastic book- which exhibition won't remain on display after next week... -thank you Augusto for the years you spent documenting this unique archive...! the most important message that i understood aroused strong feelings was the sad fact that the traditional bead hand production business where Murano led the world for so long is no longer going well for most of them- the technology, chinese and other far east copying, costs, and changing fashions have reduced their market, and factories well as home industries on Murano are all shrinking or closing. i suppose it needs an exceptional genius who will produce astonishing new ideas - rather than just trying to do things cheaper? some images may follow if i can resize them- All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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