“Meisenthal has long been known as the cradle of Art Nouveau glass and the glassworks that enabled Emile Gallé and René Lalique to revolutionize the industry. This tradition for innovation lives on. The Centre International d’Art Verrier (CIAV) was created in 1992 in order to preserve regional glassmaking skills found in Northeastern France. While giving room for new contemporary perspectives on traditional branches of the glass industry, the center remains in constant contact with the region as the heir to five-centuries of glassmaking in the Northern Vosges.”

Source Coirier, Lise and Madlener, Adrian 2015. Glass Is Tomorrow. France: Archibooks.

Watching glassblowing fascinates me as much as observing volcanoes. Primary material that is melting and in constant movement is a reminder of the genesis – in some sense, a reminder of the dawn of time.

Contrast between the coarse appearance of sand and fire, rudimentary tools such as large metal clamps and some wooden forms, and the delicacy of what is created is striking. If you forget the electricity in a glass workshop, nothing has changed since medieval times. Even the infinite possibilities of exploiting the material remain the same. ––AZ