A dialogue in glaze and glass

Ha Ling, the designer of the exhibition, told China Daily that new cabinets that are considerably smaller than those at Shanghai Museum were made especially for the display of the exhibits.

"They allow you to appreciate the artifacts from a closer distance, and see more details," he said.

Simultaneously, Glasstress: The Flowing Carnival of Venice is being held on the second-floor gallery of the museum, going on through Oct 18. It features contemporary glass sculptures by artists from 19 countries and regions brought together by the Glasstress project, an international initiative of the Venice Biennale. Exhibitions of the project have toured extensively to cities including New York, London, Stockholm, and St. Petersburg, since its founding in 2009. This is the first time the project has been shown in Shanghai.

In the 13th century, the Republic of Venice relocated all glass artisans to the island of Murano, one kilometer north of the main island, thereby monopolizing Europe's finest glassmaking craft, says Bao Honglei, co-curator of the exhibition. Since then, Murano has become synonymous with glass. Venetian artisans invented nearly transparent crystal glass, used milk glass to imitate Chinese ceramics, and made mirrors from mercury, which soon took the world by storm.

From 1959 to 1968, modern-art patron Peggy Guggenheim and Egidio Costantini, owner of a leading glass factory in Murano, invited artists such as Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst and Jean Cocteau to create artworks with the help of glass artisans. In the 1980s, the Berengo Studio was founded on Murano, continuing and developing the cross-disciplinary collaboration between traditional craft materials and modern art.

In 2009, the Berengo Foundation was introduced, and the Glasstress project launched. It has taken Murano glass out of the traditional realm of building materials and handicrafts, to the modern art arena of conceptual production and formal experimentation, Bao says.

Among the exhibits are artworks created with pulling, casting, and blown glass as well as mixed media. Glass is unique and carries a philosophy in itself, says co-curator Jean Blanchaert. "It has this kind of transparency that you can never reach with another material."

He talks about the imperfection of all the different pieces, which he believes is "maybe the most important thing, because the glass master is blowing his emotions together with the soul of the artist to get this done".

With these exhibitions at the Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum, visitors have the chance to appreciate the cultures of both China and Italy, and gain insight into the differences and constancy of glass and porcelain.

Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn