Stanislav Libenský Award entrants on display at DOX

Bohemia has long been a center for glass making, and there is more to it than trinkets for tourists. In the right hands it can be an art form.

The annual Stanislav Libenský Award is given out to young artists working in glass around the world. The award is named for the famed glass artist who passed away in 2002 at the age of 80. Winners and top entrants from the eighth annual awards can now be seen at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art until Nov. 14.

This exhibition presents an overview of contemporary approaches to glass. An international jury of experts and glassmakers selected 36 artists from 18 countries, and then narrowed that down further to three winners and one special award recipient. Works for all 36 artists are on display.

“The jury’s task was a difficult one. The works feature varied approaches to glass – from experiment to craft. In the end, while the works we selected are all very different from each other, what they have in common is the motto of the Stanislav Libenský Award: a contemporary approach that potential for development,” jury head and director of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague Helena Koenigsmarková said in a statement.

First place went to Natsuki Katsukawa of Japan for Micro World Specimens, inspired by images of microscopic life. According to the jury, her work is “simultaneously strong and gentle, and is characterized by excellent technique.” The first prize includes a stay at the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State.

Karina Malling of Denmark took second place. Her work Transcendence combines glass with sand and soil so the viewer can perceive glass as both fragile and utilitarian. Her prize includes a study term at the Ajeto Lindava glassmaking factory in Nový Bor in Northern Bohemia.

Ebibi Salomée of France combined video and glass in her work Times. It creates the illusion of movement of several glass horse statuettes. She based her approach on progressive frames in animation.

A special award went to Clare Peters of Australia for In Search of Hope, which combines optical glass with text and light. She will receive a stay at the studio of the Corning Museum of Glass in the USA.

This year’s jury consisted of Helena Koenigsmarková, director of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague; Maja Heuer, founder and director of the Glass Factory, a Swedish glassmaking center, Erika Tada, a Japanese glassmaker and teacher working in the United States and Japan; Charlie Parriott, a US glass artist who has been working on fine art and commercial work since 1972; and Petr Nový, head curator of the Museum of Glass and Jewelery in Jablonec nad Nisou. The project’s artistic coordinator was Milan Hlaveš, head of the glass, ceramics, and porcelain collection at the Museum of Decorative Arts.

For more information, visit www.dox.cz