SEVENTY-EIGHT year old Lino Tagliapietra, one of the world’s  most respected contemporary glass blowers,  is in town this week, visiting the  Canberra Glassworks and the ANU School of Art Glass Workshop September 12 to 16. 

Born in Murano,Venice, he started  his working life in a local glass factory at the age of 12. Tagliapietra became the youngest ever maestro at the age of 21 at the Venini Factory. He is largely responsible for the contemporary “Venetian wave” international style in hot glass for the past 25 years and his work is held in over 30 major museum collections around the world.

Both the Glassworks and  SchoolofArtare viewing the visit at indicative of the high international standing that the two institutions enjoy overseas. Overwhelmed by the occasion, the glassworks is saying, “Watching Lino work is equivalent to seeing Usain Bolt run or Cadel pedal.”

Traditional Italian glass blowing, they note, is a dying art and without Tagliapietra’s teaching the traditions and skills of handmade glass would probably be lost.

The  artist seating for a 5 day demonstration workshop by Tagliapietra and US artists Nancy Callan, David Walters and DarinDenison is sold out, having attracted a who’s who of the Australian Studio Glass movement. Members of the public won’t find a seat, btu you can turn  up and asking for a standing room only ticket, as no bookings are being taken for this.

All the while, the Canberra Glassworks will be staging “pop-up” exhibitions during the week by artists influenced by  Tagliapietra, including Klaus Moje, Nadège Degenétez, Clare Belfrage and Richard Whiteley, as well as the fabulous Ranamok Glass Prize exhibition, in its last days.