For the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Museum of Applied Arts of Brno’s Moravian Gallery, around 50 original glassworks, porcelains and ceramics made by the best designers in the Czech Republic will be on display at the ‘Made by Fire’ exhibition, running from 17 November 2024 to 7 September 2025.
“At the beginning there is a pile of quartz sand or kaolin, a few pencil strokes on a piece of paper and a fiery furnace. At the end there is a painted plate, a cut-glass vase, and a crystal chandelier which the customer hangs in a place of honour in their home,” explained Eva Slunečková, one of the curators of the exhibition.
Glasswork and porcelain work are part of an old savoir-faire in the world, which could be seen as useless by some people today. The purpose of the Made by Fire exhibition is to walk the public through four main themes: Industry, Adaptation, Identity and Experiment, to explain why this knowledge legacy is so important to maintain.
The pioneers of original glassmaking emerged in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s, and their work is brimming with creativity. Nowadays, glassworks and porcelain factories are Czech national treasures, emphasising the old saying about “golden Czech hands”, which can reportedly make or repair anything.
“When Czech artists decide to go beyond, they are able to create works where the potential of material and technique are stretched to their limit,” explains Danica Kovářová, another curator of the exhibition.
Even though glassmaking has traditionally been a particularly masculine profession, because of the physically demanding work in the glassworks process and the use of a blowpipe, more and more women are now part of this artisanal work.
Credit: Hana Knizova via Instagram
These days, glassblowers produce avant-garde creations, playing with the different materials, their chemical reaction and a touch of chance. Designer Lada Semecká, one of the artists featured in the exhibition, “sees chance as a welcome part of the artistic process,” said Slunečková. Semecká’s work often involves the fusion of glass panes, which are then sprinkled with special silica sand. The artist starts with a rough idea but lets her materials create random structures, giving them her unique signature.
All the selected original glassworks, porcelain and ceramics were made in the fires of Czech furnaces and kilns, and were chosen from the major players on the design scene, alongside the new generation of designers which includes Markéta Špundová. The young ceramic artist deals with contemporary issues and taboos in society. Her series entitled ‘The Ten Commandments of Masturbation’ is a personal statement on her rejection of her traditional Catholic education.
One of the goals of the exhibition is to show how artists are adapting to consumerism and its consequences for the planet. The exhibition will showcase how they are trying to be more sustainable by choosing different materials which cause less harm to the environment.
The exhibition also highlights the reinvention of glasswork, porcelain and ceramic, proving that these artisanal creations deserve to be celebrated and make customers proud to have products at home labelled “Made in Czechia”.
