The international conference Bohemian Glass in the 20th Century, organised by the Glass Study Centre, is scheduled to be held at the Fondazione Cini on Monday 15 May from 9.30 am. This event, linked to the exhibition ‘Bohemian Glass: The Great Masters’, aims to highlight the important tradition associated with the working of this fascinating material in the Czech Republic. The speakers at the symposium will offer original insights into the personalities and works featured in the exhibition, especially in relation to the time span examined, i.e. from the years following the Great War to the present day.

The symposium will kick off with a welcoming address by the Director of the Fondazione Cini’s Institute of Art History, Luca Massimo Barbero, and an introduction by Caterina Tognon – the curator of the exhibition ‘Bohemian Glass: The Great Masters’ together with Sylva Petrová – who will be chairing the conference. The morning will continue with contributions by Helena Koenigsmarková, Director of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, Eva Krátká, contemporary art historian, Sylva Petrová, curator of the Glass, Ceramics and Porcelain Collection at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, and Rainald Franz, curator of the Glass and Ceramics Collection at the MAK Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna. The afternoon will feature papers by some of the leading personalities of the Prague and international art scene, such as professor, visual artist and performer Vladimír Kopecký, artist and art historian Jana Šindelová, independent curator, author and historian of architecture and design Adam Štěch, and independent curator, author and historian of photography Pavel Vančát. The conference will close with an address by Katya Kohoutová Heller, Director of the Heller Gallery in New York.