With Vitrum Lab, art takes center stage at Vitrum 2009

Art and the education of the youngest generation will be the central focus of Vitrum 2009, from October 28th to 31st at the Rho Fiera Milano complex. Under the patronage of the Lombardy Region – Education, Training and Work, during the exhibition Gimav will inaugurate this year Vitrum Lab.



It’s an educational program and art workshop designed to appeal to primary school-aged children in Milan, offering even the youngest children the opportunity to understand the culture of glass in its most positive interpretations. Guests of honor will be the Maestri Muranesi (Murano Glassblowing Masters.



Glass, a material that has landed Italy on the international stage -- thanks to the exceptional quality of its workmanship -- rediscovers a place front and center in the education and training of even the youngest generation of learners.

On the 30th anniversary of its founding, under the aegis of the Lombardy Region – Education, Training and Work, Gimav, the Association of Italian manufacturers and suppliers of machinery, equipment and special products for glass processing, that created Vitrum, will inaugurate this year Vitrum Lab.



During Vitrum 2009, the international trade fair for machinery, equipment and systems for the processing of flat and hollow glass, glass, and finished products for the industry, three whole days – Wednesday the 28th, Thursday the 29th and Friday the 30th of October – will be dedicated to the educational workshops that will allow 247 children from 3 schools in Milan, to learn all about glass, including its technological, cultural and artistic aspects.

The project, masterminded by Vitrum to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of its founding, is a program that will lead the children to discover for themselves the techniques and works of the Master Glassblowers of Murano and to learn about the history of this precious material by unleashing their imaginations in the creative process of making glass ‘paintings’ of their own.

Art will definitely be a major player.



Through the use of historic images and live exhibitions, the students will come into contact with a unique artistic heritage – the fine craftsmanship of the Masters of Murano. Glassblowing and modeling techniques will add a kinetic dimension to the story of this precious material -- from its early experimental roots to the most elegant works of art. The children will also learn to appreciate the technical and aesthetic qualities of these objects, the play of light, and layering of colors recreated by the glass sculptors of Murano, who are able to construct soft, fluid shapes by modeling the incandescent molten glass with rudimentary iron tools.

Vitrum Lab will also, for the first time ever in the history of the industry’s trade fairs, get the students involved in creative workshops where they can try their hands at working with glass as a raw material to be transformed into objects of their own creation. In an area set aside for them inside Vitrum Lab, the children will be able to give full expression to their creative spirits in an extremely original way. They will be able to make small ‘paintings’ of their favorite images with colored glass threads and beads, which, when fired in the kilns, will take on the desired shapes and colors. The children’s art works will be exhibited daily for the public, and will constitute a must-see showcase of unique works of art.

Workshop activities in the Lab will be preceded by an introductory meeting at the pre-selected schools, thanks to the cooperation of the Associazione Vetroricerca Glas&Modern of Bolzano, an association that since 1996 has been designing alternative and experimental programs for teaching subjects related to artistic glass processing.

A guided tour of VITRUM LAB can be arranged by contacting the press office.