SCOTLAND 2010 - 400 Year anniversary of Glassmaking

[Frank]

Post: Blair House, Hirst Road, Near Harthill, North Lanarkshire, ML7 5TL, Scotland
Email: 400th AT scotlandsglass.co.uk
WEBINFO: http://www.scotlandsglass400.co.uk/
 
 
SCOTTISH GLASS CELEBRATED IN YEAR LONG EVENT
 
In 2010, 400 years of glassmaking is being celebrated in Scotland with a whole year of events. This press announcement gives you the first news of the programme.
 
An international conference will take place at Edinburgh College of Art from 1st to 4th October 2010. In addition to a wide variety of speakers, there will be three days of demonstrations for specialists and the general public, bringing the magic of glass to everyone. Scottish glassmakers will be showcasing their work to an international audience during this event.
 
Every museum and gallery in the country had been contacted and they are being encouraged to mount exhibitions of their Scottish glass collections during the year. Several pledges of support have already been made by some of the most important museums in the country.
 
A book about Scottish glass is being published. Rather than a traditional history, it is arranged geographically to encourage readers to tour the country and explore our wonderful glassmaking heritage for themselves.
 
A brochure is being printed to show every place in Scotland where one can see glass: not just museums, but buildings, makers and, we hope, archaeological sites. Every building included will be encouraged to open its doors to the public during 2010. All of the glass businesses based in Scotland that we are including in the brochure at the website http://www.scotlandsglass400.co.uk/ , please let us know if you know of any glass business not included. We also want to know about glassmakers with a Scottish connection that are working elsewhere in the world.
 
This event is unique in Scotland. It is ambitious and exciting. Please keep in contact to receive updates and news as they develop in the coming months.
 
 
Shiona Airlie & Frank Andrews
The Committee for the 400th Anniversary of Scottish Glass Making
 
Postal Address:
Blair House, Hirst Road, Near Harthill, Shotts, North Lanarkshire, ML7 5TL, Scotland

[Frank]

Program will include talks by Brian Blench, Jill Turnbull and Graham Cooley amongst others...

Additional speakers are now being canvassed and anyone reading this with a relevant topic from ancient to modern, is invityed to get in touch.

Registration details for attending this important conference will be announced as soon as possible.

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Scotland’s Glass 2010

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SCOTTISH GLASS CELEBRATED IN YEAR LONG EVENT

In 2010, 400 years of glassmaking is being celebrated in Scotland with a whole year of events. This announcement gives you the first news of the programme.

An international conference will take place at Edinburgh College of Art 1st - 4th October 2010. In addition to a wide variety of speakers, there will be three days of demonstrations for specialists and the general public, bringing the magic of glass to everyone. Scottish glassmakers will be showcasing their work to an international audience during this event. To receive further details about this, please contact the above address.

Every museum and gallery in the country had been contacted and they are being encouraged to mount exhibitions of their Scottish glass collections during the year. Several pledges of support have already been made by some of the most important museums in the country.

A website Scotlandsglass400.co.uk has been established specifically for the anniversary. And a forum for public discussion is on the Scotland’s Glass website.

A book about Scottish glass is being published. Written by Brian Blench (formerly Head of Decorative Arts in Glasgow Museums) and Shiona Airlie, it is believed to be the first general history of Scottish Glass aimed at the general reader. Fully illustrated, it will encourage readers to tour the country and explore our wonderful glassmaking heritage for themselves.

A brochure is being printed to show every place in Scotland where one can see glass: not just museums, but buildings, makers and, we hope, archaeological sites. Every building included will be encouraged to open its doors to the public during 2010.

This event is unique in Scotland. It is ambitious and exciting. Please keep in contact the above e-mail address to receive updates and news as events develop in the coming months. Information about the founding members of the committee is attached.

About the Organisers:
Shiona Airlie studied history of art at Edinburgh University and then took a postgraduate diploma in art gallery and museum studies at the University of Manchester. She worked as exhibitions officer in Edinburgh before moving to Glasgow to set up the touring exhibition programme there. The daughter of a glassmaker, her final post in Glasgow was as curator of the Dutch and the Glass collections. She left that post to become the first Director of the National Glass Centre in Sunderland. She retired due to ill health in 1998. She now maintains her interest in glass by contributing to scotlandsglass.co.uk, and has volunteered her expertise to assist in the 2010 celebrations. She also writes on Sino-British history and has published two books and numerous papers on the subject, as well as many biographical dictionary entries. A third biography has recently been commissioned from her.

Frank Andrews' background is in electronics, publishing and commercial computer software for global companies. In 1984, his research into Scottish glass led to the formation of a collectors club, which published six newsletters and, in turn, to him co-authoring Ysart Glass (1990), a book about decorative glass made by the Spanish Ysart family in Perth from 1924 to 1964. Since the late 1990s, Frank has been an information provider for glass collectors building the encyclopaedic website Ysartglass.com. For the last two years, he has been creating the Scotland's Glass website as a homage to all involved in the world of glass but with Scottish roots. The intention that the site be a community initiative is slowly being realised, as more people get actively involved through their common interest. In 2005, he organised a successful conference in Perth that explored the impact of the Ysart family on the Scottish Glass industry.

[Frank]

Glass Art, Art Glass, Commercial, Industrial glass.

For details see http://www.scotlandsglass400.co.uk/data/conference.html

[Frank]

  Scotland's Glass: a year of celebration

To celebrate the 400th anniversary of glassmaking in Scotland, a year long celebration is planned.
It will start with the launch of a new book, Scotland's Glass: 400 years of Glassmaking. Written by Shiona Airlie and Brian Blench, this is the first book ever to cover the subject. Fully illustrated throughout with sumptuous colour photographs, it is aimed at the general reader. It will be published in December 2009. Further details and a pre-order form are available from : www.cortex-design.co.uk

The Museum of Edinburgh will be the first in Scotland to celebrate the event and will be opening its glass displays, showing some of the finest glass made in the capital since the 18th century.  Visitors will once more have the opportunity to see the beautiful wine glass made for Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745 and used by him at Holyrood, as well as a rare royal wedding present. Shortly after this opening, a special display of glass from Lauriston Castle will be on view in the museum.

Then it's off to Aberdeen, where Aberdeen Art Gallery opens Scottish Glass: A Celebration on 2 March 2010. Running until 31 October 2010, it showcases decorative glass from the City’s collection. Included will be delicate wine glasses used during the time of the Jacobite rebellion, the jewel like creations from Perth’s Vasart and Monart factories as well as innovative art pieces by contemporary makers working in Scotland such as Deborah Fladgate and Keiko Mukaide.

Summer 2010 sees special displays opening in Perth and Glasgow. Kelvingrove is mounting an exhibition of some of their finest Scottish glass. This will be an opportunity to see one of the earliest bottles ever made in Glasgow, fine 18th century goblets, as well as famed glass from the art nouveau period and some of the best glass made in Scotland in recent times. Normally hidden in storage, this fabulous collection will be a must-see for any glass enthusiast.

The Museum of Edinburgh is also planning to hold a series of glass lectures through the summer months and by autumn it is hoped that Glasgow's museum stores will be holding guided tours of their glass collection.

Autumn heralds one of the most important events when a conference is being held at Edinburgh College of Art, 1-4 October. As well as a host of lectures by eminent speakers, the college is mounting an exhibition of glass by present members of the glass department, and there will be demonstrations of glass making and an area devoted to glass makers working throughout Scotland today.

Throughout 2010, the public will be encouraged to visit places associated with glass. Many of these are featured in a leaflet being published for the anniversary. Using this, one can visit makers around the country and also explore some of Scotland's hidden gems, which often have surprising links with glass. Kinnoul Aisle in Perthshire is the place to see the tomb of the founder of the industry, Sir George Hay. Or go to Dumfries to see glasses used by Robert Burns. The glass trail takes you all over the country.

For further details about this and everything else happening in 2010, go to www.scotlandsglass400.co.uk
www.scotlandsglass.co.uk - the site for our glass.