{"id":2107,"date":"2005-12-15T17:24:45","date_gmt":"2005-12-15T17:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klaasikunst.ee\/?p=2107"},"modified":"2014-01-21T10:09:25","modified_gmt":"2014-01-21T10:09:25","slug":"2005-days-of-white-glass-memories-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klaasikunst.ee\/?p=2107","title":{"rendered":"2005 Days of White Glass: memories"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Robert<\/a>

Robert Tannahill<\/p><\/div>\n

DAYS OF WHITE GLASS IN HAAPSALU
\n3rd International Hot Glass Symposium
\nEvald Okas Museum, August 16-23, 2005<\/p>\n

Last week,the glass artists of Estonia had the pleasure of welcoming colleagues from around the world. The third hot glass workshop, initiated by Kai Koppel, lasted for a week and culminated with a glass show on the museum\u2019s second floor. The exhibit, which stays open till Aug.14, presents a selection of pieces that were created during the workshop before a live audience, and some previously executed works.<\/p>\n

\"Kati<\/a>

Kati Kerstna<\/p><\/div>\n

This year, the common denominator was the milky white glass melting in the furnace. Many of the participants related this to the Legend of Haapsalu. The primeval archetype of Woman and Moon, present in the White Lady\u2019s story, brought up a wide range of interpretations \u2013 some more abstract than others. I was myself surprised of the broad range of meanings hidden in that old folk tale \u2013 material for both Symbolists, Feminists, and anyone in between.<\/p>\n

The Two Extremes of Glass
\nProfessional slang states the division of glass art into “cold” and “hot”. Of these, the first is often born in the silence of some cellar, through months of grinding and hard work; whilst the latter appears more playful, artistic, and process-oriented. Borrowing from another slang \u2013 a prime-time sport. Greater performances of this art form take place in the open, light summertime air. The Haapsalu workshop was no exception \u2013 centering around a furnace that squat in the museum yard.<\/p>\n

\"Sung-Hwn<\/a>

Sung-Hwn Hong<\/p><\/div>\n

Playful does not necessarily mean easy, nor accessible. Aside from artistic talent, glassblowing requires a good deal of physical skill. People, who possess both of these, are rare everywhere. And so, our workshop \u2013 as many others \u2013 brings together an international crew.<\/p>\n

White Glass and its Many Forms
\nThis year, visitors to Haapsalu came from three continents. Some, loving the town\u2019s atmosphere, came back for the second or third time. Sung-Hwan Hong (Korea), an elegant juggler with glass, created short-lived pieces \u2013 quite untypical of a glass artist. Robert Tannahill (Canada) portrayed the Lady, having sacrificed his own hair for the cause. Nicolas Morin and Catherine Sint\u00e9s (France) adapted the methods of fibre arts in their oeuvre “Tricot Suspendu”. Lachezar Dochev (Bulgaria) installed a lacy boudoir for the Lady. Anda Munkevica (Latvia) combined a ready-made chain with glass links in “Rip This Joint”. Vesa Varrela (Finland) and Remigius Kriukas (Lithuania) adapted nature\u2019s forms in their sculptures.<\/p>\n

\"Kai<\/a>

Kai Koppel<\/p><\/div>\n

Newcomers brought with them a host of sensations. Cicy Ching (Hong Kong) showed slides of her amazingly nuanced jewellery. Her installation “In Tears”, created on site, reflected the legend\u2019s tragic \u2013 of being buried alive. Sue Parry (England), bursting with the radicality of Punk, was comparably milder in her art \u2013 nature-inspired, verging on the purely abstract. The day\u2019s events took form in her piece “Night Swim”. The boh\u00e9me primadonna Renate Korinek (Austria) utilized the fluidity of the material to express sensuality and erotic. Barbala Gulbe (Latvia) – “Always So” reflected on the cycles of the Moon, and their power over humans. Gunilla Lifvergren (Sweden), surfing the Neopop wave, brought supersized glass receipts titled “The Last Bill”.<\/p>\n

My favourite Estonian work was Toomas Riisalu\u2019s “Hedgehogs Go to Heaven” \u2013 a piece possessing integrity of form and content.
\nMany works took inspiration from the spherical form, the keywords being egg, expectation, beginning, morning etc. (Kai Saarepuu, Virve Kiil, Kairi Orgusaar and Eeva K\u00e4sper). An ironic\/conceptual approach was taken by Kati Kerstna, Erki Kannus and Merle Kannus. There were glass beads by Liisi Junolainen and Maret Sarapu; fragile miniatures by Kairi Orgusaar; functional forms by Kai Koppel, Virve Kiil, Kaja and Eero Vaikre; romantic storytelling by Sofi Arshas (The Coming of the Sylphid”) and Viivi-Ann Keerdo (“The Age of Ladies”).<\/p>\n

\"Toomas<\/a>

Toomas Riisalu<\/p><\/div>\n

Satellites
\nBesides the main course \u2013 the symposium itself \u2013 numerous snacks and tidbits were served to the townfolks and visitors. August 14 was a day for children, who had the opportunity of practising enamel painting, assisted by professionals. Maestro Evald Okas lent his advice and example, making an improvised painting of a curvacious dame.
\nRait Pr\u00e4\u00e4ts opened his show “Glass Houses” at the Viie Risti Gallery. Bulgarians Lachezar Dochev and Ventseslav Danev exhibited at the cultural center, showing, respectively, monumental glass sculptures and photogram collages. In the Kuke Gallery, Remigius Kriukas (Lithuania) had laid out his glass paperweights. Erki and Merle Kannus made a temporary sound installation “An Ode for Travellers” at the old railway station.<\/p>\n

\"Anda<\/a>

Anda Munkevi\u010da, Robert Tannahill<\/p><\/div>\n

Society reports
\nThe milling around the glass furnace did not show signs of slowing down until way past midnight. After all, one cannot let a good working mood go to waste. Having twisted some glass, one could continue twisting one\u2019s body to the rhythms \u2013 Oroboro, a Latvian New Age band, had come to play at the workshop. After those guys had left us, we continued hitting drums and various other utensils. Exotic cuisine ranging from Wok to Kama was served daily by the representatives of different nationalities. Some enjoyed a good beach weather, some took healing mud baths, went to concerts and sightseeing. We exchanged information, contacts, and memorabilia. The guests left with a note of sadness, many wishing to return; their luggage included Haapsalu shawls, packets of Kama, and perhaps a few happy memories.<\/p>\n

Merle Kannus
\nTo be published in the arts&culture weekly Sirp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAYS OF WHITE GLASS IN HAAPSALU 3rd International Hot Glass Symposium Evald Okas Museum, August 16-23, 2005 Last week,the glass artists of Estonia had the pleasure of welcoming colleagues from around the world. The third hot glass workshop, initiated by Kai Koppel, lasted for a week and culminated with a glass show on the museum\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klaasikunst.ee\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klaasikunst.ee\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klaasikunst.ee\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klaasikunst.ee\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klaasikunst.ee\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2107"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/klaasikunst.ee\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2280,"href":"https:\/\/klaasikunst.ee\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107\/revisions\/2280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klaasikunst.ee\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klaasikunst.ee\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klaasikunst.ee\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}