Welcome to the Glass Age

162 to attract and actively engage the public. Art, science, archaeology, history and social sciences find their meeting point in specialized glass museums and museums with collections of glass. Research carried out in museums fosters a deeper understanding of the tangible and intangible values of glass and glass objects, and the gained knowledge provides a sound basis for educational activities and communication. Museums have plenty of stories to tell, describing raw materials and techniques needed for producing glass and glass objects through the centuries, teaching us about its origin and manufacture, and giving insight into the life of the people who created and used it. In the museum context, even the most common glass objects can provide unique learning experiences. Educational programs are designed to extend the understanding and knowledge in children and adults deepening the meaning of glass in their life. By establishing a creative relationship with schools, museums can contribute to the introduction of glass in formal and non-formal education, ensuring and promoting inclusive and equitable lifelong learning (Figure 10.11). By sourcing and exhibiting objects and furniture with the aim of reconstructing the original aspect of the interior, historical house museums engage the public in glass collections in a particular way. Giving the visitors a sense of what the building’s life was like when it was inhabited house museums stimulate active participation and a personal approach to the display. Glass museums equipped with hot and cold workshops and studios can provide magical experiences for visitors and significant opportunities for creative learning (Figure 10.12). The involvement of museums in glass production contributed in some cases to the reinvention and regeneration of an almost lost craft. In order to open a workshop where a visitor could observe the production of replicas of ancient glasses the Museum of Ancient Glass in Zadar (HR) gathered the knowledge of the last glassblowers in the country and succeeded in training young glassmakers. They are currently running a studio offering a varied and balanced set of glass making experiences. Initiatives taken by museums have proved to be crucial in recognizing handcrafted glass production as Intangible Cultural Heritage. The manual production of glass is today recorded in the National Inventories of Intangible Cultural Heritage in countries like Finland, Germany or Spain. In 2020 “The art of glass beads in France and Italy” was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, while a multinational application coordinated by France and involving also Germany, Finland, regeneration even in the absence of historical glasshouses. An outstanding example is offered by the plan Glass Art City , promoted by the City of Toyama (JP). Choosing glassmaking as a new cultural asset for the community development, the city created a system of institutions aimed at supporting talented glass artists and at spreading knowledge about glass arts and crafts. The structure is composed of the Toyama City Institute of Glass Art (a public educational institution), Toyama Glass Studios , and the Toyama Glass Art Museum , opened in 2015 in a breath-taking building designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma. Great care was taken to ensure the participation of the community to this new cultural process, facilitating the interaction between the artists and the citizens by means of workshops, educational activities and glass-working experiences. As a result, Toyama is today home to the largest glass art community in Japan and the new glass culture is part of the life of the city. The glass museum and the public Being places of learning with objects, museums are crucial for dissemination, education and hands-on experience focused on glass. In every type of museum glass can be used as a medium