Summer School Programme 2019 - Belle-Île-en-Mer

September 2019, Geneva – The Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship is giving eight young artisans and designers from around Europe the chance to participate in an immersive course on glassblowing at Fluïd, a glassblowing workshop in Belle-Île-en-Mer, France. The course, part of the foundation’s inaugural Summer School Programme, was organised by the association French Hot Glass Family and hosted by Fluïd in celebration of its 10-year anniversary.

In the glassblowing course, students from France, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia and The Netherlands will collaborate with world-class glass artists. They include Danish glass artists Tobias Møhl and Nanna Backhaus, British glass artist Andrew Brown and American glass sculptor Nancy Callan as well as Fabien Barbeau, lead glassblower at Fluïd. Students will learn glassblowing techniques by first observing and then assisting the masters as they create new large-scale pieces which will enter the collection of the French Hot Glass Family.

Collaboration is key in glassblowing, especially when creating large-scale works. Each has a particular role and position in the atelier, a precisely timed choreography in which the piece emerges from glass canes, the molten glass in constant motion as it moves from the blowpipe to furnace and is shaped using a variety of tools and techniques. Participating students will take part in this dance.

The pieces that come out of this week will reflect the dinstinct DNA that each master brings to the workshop, from Nanna Backhaus’ Nordic design fundamentals to Nancy Callan’s sculptural forms. According to Fabien Barbeau, master glassblower, founder of Fluïd and president of the association French Hot Glass Family: “The objective of the association is to create a space where highly trained professionals can share exceptional know-how with a new generation of makers and create unique pieces in a companionship spirit. There is a real need for this within the glass community.”

The students also recognize this need. “I hope to get more hands-on experience and understanding of glass as a material. I look forward to having fun in a creative community,” says Frantisek Toth, a participant who is getting his PhD in furniture design and technology from the Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia. “I think communication and understanding the process of making is the most important thing when collaborating with masters. This is what I look forward to in Belle-Île-en-Mer.”

The Summer School Programme is a new educational initiative developed with members of the foundation’s international network, offering 50 young students and recent graduates in craftsmanship and design a fully funded place on a participating short course. The aim is to give these young talents the opportunity to try something new outside their usual specialisation, helping them to broaden their horizons, fulfil their potential and make cross-disciplinary connections that will benefit them as their careers develop.

While participants will discover new skills, their fresh perspectives are vital to the sector. By generating exchanges on a European level, the Summer School Programme aims to encourage future collaborations.

For more information visit michelangelofoundation.org/en/10-summer-school