Unique crafts at the Glass Without Borders stand

The Glass Without Borders project, a community of glass artists working in the techniques of lampwork and fusing, spot-painting on glass and ceramics, and sublimation printing on glass, ceramics and porcelain, was a real highlight of the show. The stand, which no one could pass by, displayed unique works by the artists, as well as creative materials: handmade glass beads and cabochons, paints for painting on glass and ceramics, and fittings.

Irina Ponomareva, glass craftswoman and group stand organiser, introduced the participants in this display:

“This year we had only four participants, but very famous ones. The Irkutsk company Olafa makes very interesting jewellery in the lampwork technique, adding quartz, graphite and other secret ingredients to glass. The result is glass that becomes matt, velvety, liquid, bubbly and sparkly. The result is very beautiful earrings, rings, pendants, brooches, bracelets and cufflinks.

“Another exhibitor is the company Tiffany's Garden from the suburbs of Moscow. They make stained glass windows, mirrors, mosaic paintings, decorative items in the technique of milling, fusing, engraving, sandblasting, they can do everything. This is the pride of our stand.

“The Glassnaya workshop demonstrates a very high level of craftsmanship in the fusion technique, where parts are sintered at high temperatures – around 800 degrees Celsius. You won't find such a high level of soldering quality anywhere else, especially in such a wide range as this workshop presents.

“My speciality is Tiffany lamps. It's my love, I'm ready to do them around the clock. There are several works on the stand, and I am pleased that they aroused the interest of the professionals at the show. I like combining glass with stones and other materials and ceramics. I often take the work of my students to shows with me.

“I first came to Mir Stekla 20 years ago and have since fallen in love with processing this fragile material. I started learning and set up my own workshop. In 2014, the exhibition management offered me the chance to organise a crafts stand. Over these almost 10 years, our Glass without Borders stand has hosted a large number of craftsmen and artists from Moscow, the Urals, Siberia, Krasnoyarsk, and Sevastopol. I have even brought a very famous master from Israel.

“For various reasons we have not exhibited in the last two years. But now we can see that the show is picking up again, for which many thanks go to its team, who has a very warm attitude towards us craftsmen and artists. We can see that interest in glass is growing. We used to work with European and American glass, but now we see that an alternative has appeared, glass of decent quality has been brought in from China, and Belarusians are showing interesting materials.

“Visitors and fellow exhibitors came to our stand all four days of the show to talk about various techniques of working with glass, and we took great pleasure in infecting everyone who came to our stand with our love of the glass world.”

You can already book a stand at Mir Stekla 2024, which will be held from 27 February to 1 March 2024!