After days of deep immersion into the artistic world of glass, the 10th edition of The Venice Glass Week came to an end with its usual awards ceremony, which took place on the evening of September 17th, at Palazzo Franchetti. The event featured recognition and celebration, as well as the presentation of three major prizes.
Lino Tagliapietra and Dale Chihuly were the central names opening the celebration. The two renowned artists received gold medals of merit as a symbol of their mastery, dedication and precious contribution to the artistic world of glassmaking. As the committee explains "it is magnificent that, in the 10th edition of The Venice Glass Week, visitors can admire two such extraordinary exhibitions as Layers of Light by Lino Tagliapietra and CHIHULY: Venice 2026 by Dale Chihuly.”
Then, came the moment to unveil the winner of the 6th edition of The Premio Fondazione di Venezia per the Venice Glass Week. Juried by the curator Jean Blanchaert, emerita Chancellor of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti Giovanna Palandri, and General Councillor of the Fondazione di Venezia Paola Marini, the jury awarded Tanjia Pak’s exhibition Shape of Silence, curated by Francesca Giubilei at SPARC*. The project was particularly praised by the judges “for its poetic and technically accomplished exploration of the limits of glass, from the physical boundaries of the material to the outer reaches of its expressive potential.”
Tanja Pak told Glass Quarterly that receiving this prize has both an artistic and personal meaning. After years of research into ways of giving form to the immaterial, she has found in glass an ideal means of expression.
This was echoed in Francesca Giubilei’s words at the award ceremony, as she described Pak as “first and foremost an artist and only secondarily a glass artist,” who has chosen glass as “the ideal medium to explore space, silence, and the human condition.”
For Pak, the jury’s sensitive ability to capture the very essence of her work was perhaps the greatest reward of her artistic journey so far.
“In Murano, I feel the heartbeat of generations of masters, and the secrets so carefully guarded and passed down through the centuries,” Pak wrote in an email exchange with Glass. Receiving the award in the presence of Lino Tagliapietra, whom she regards as one of the living guardians of Murano's heritage, was described by Pak as particularly moving, while also inspiring for her "to continue exploring the possibilities of visual art through glass”.
In many ways, this award highlighted the broader goal of the festival itself to create an expanding dialogue between the remarkable heritage of glassmaking and the possibilities of what is to come.