The Dolomites and Via Ferrata 2007

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Saturday, July 21

Artisans & Artists: Murano and the Biennale

The next day it was time for another return to Venice, this time with specific targets in mind: the glass-blowing island of Murano, and the 52nd iteration of the international art and architecture exhibition called the Biennale di Venezia. Even though Jenn and I had seen the 51st Biennale two years before, the Biennale was of special interest to Pu, and we were happy to tag along with him for another look.

Train tunnel

We checked out of the hostel, packed everything into the two Volkwsagens, and then walked the now-familiar seven hundred metres to the Mestre train station.

Mestre train station

By 9:30am, we were again standing on the broad steps of the Stazione in Venice, looking down at the Grand Canal. We had decided to split our day up into two carefully planned chunks: the morning on the glass-blowing island of Murano, and the afternoon at the Biennale.

We had now managed to make contact with Graham Fletcher, and we were angling to meet with him for drinks sometime after 7pm in Agordo, so we had to time-manage things to make sure we arrived there by 7pm.

Venice's glass-making community is older and longer-running than anywhere else: well over 1,000 years old. Early in the history of Venice, the glass-making was concentrated on an island just to the north of the main islands of Venice (purportedly to prevent the many glass-blowing furnaces from burning down the city). Over the centuries, continual advances and improvements in various techniques resulted in the signature high-quality glasswork that is world-reknown.

Watery bus stop

With a reputation like that, how could we not go and have a visit? So, we purchased an all-day vaporetto (water-bus) pass for 12 euro, and hopped on a fully-packed number 42 headed for Murano. It was another beautiful, clear, hot day, and it was a pleasure to stand near the railing and let the maritime breezes cool us and to watch the living history that is Venice glide by.

courtesy PChen

Chiesa di San Geremia

Heading down Rio Cannareggio

Magnificent facades

The waterways around Venice are much like the highways of a modern city. Instead of curbs, there are wooden poles staked into the Lagoon to mark the 'roadways' - and instead of traffic lights, there are - well, traffic lights. Some things transfer well from the world of the land, and some do not. In any case, the Venetian waterways were coursing with boat traffic - some personal, some business. There were all manner of craft - water buses, open aluminum boats with outboards, historic-looking lacquered-wood cruisers.

courtesy PChen

courtesy DBoyd

Heading out into the open

A street in Murano

Furnace entrance

Soon we drifted into the stop at Murano, and we got off to explore the wonders of the glass-blowing island. As we wandered down the Fondamenta dei Vetrei (which is the main drag in Murano), we met up with a young Italian-looking girl who spoke with a very Canadian accent. She was quite excited to meet us, and as it turned out, she was actually Canadian - from Ottawa even, and in fact lived less than a few kilometres from where we lived! Laura, as her name turned out to be, was in need of a little bit of english, as she'd decided to spend the summer nannying with an Italian family in Modena, not far northeast of Milano. Although she had an italian background, she knew little to no Italian, and she was having a bit of a break away from her duties by sightseeing in Venice. We were more than happy for her company and we decided to explore Murano together.

As we walked through Murano, we noticed that things seemed pretty dead. Inquiring at a local shop near the center of the island, we discovered that on weekends, things were pretty much shut down on Murano, and we'd have a hard time finding an open fornace (the Italian word for furnace). She did point us in the direction of one that might be open, so we headed off in search of it.

courtesy PChen

courtesy DBoyd

Jenn and Laura

Glassworks

Glass tree and tower

Glassblower's shop

The little glassblowing shop she had described was indeed open, and we entered into a darkened shop crammed with thousands of glass items, both big and small.

courtesy PChen

Crafting a horse

Most of the small items were decorative keepsakes - glass animals and fake glass candies - that sort of thing. There were also big items, like the multi-thousand euro glass chandeliers that swung not very far above our heads.

Happy with her purchase

In the back of the shop was a glowing-hot furnace with metal ducting to the outside. Next to the furnace was a single glassblower, deftly working taffy-like glass into little glass horses. It was fascinating to watch how quickly he turned a gooey lump into such a complex shape. It must have been brutally hot to work near the furnace when the weather outside was already boiling hot.

A second employee in the shop was chattering continuously in about five different languages, simultaneously urging us to buy this or that at some great price while at the same time warning us not to take pictures or break anything. He was soon tuned out.

Jenn did eventually buy one of the glass horses for her niece Madison, and Pu bought some works for his family.

courtesy PChen

Just a pretty house

Elegant glassworks

Piping hot

We wandered back towards the bus stop, and just past it, we found another furnace / shop that was open, this time with some actual demonstrations. We were herded onto a set of raised steps at the end of another glassblowing room, and we were given a whirlwind demonstration on the art of glassblowing, from red-hot glass to the last exquisite crimp-and-twist.

Bravo!

courtesy PChen

Glassblowing demonstration

Into the fire...

Shaping and turning

Having gotten a reasonable taste of Murano, it was time to head over to the easternmost tip of the main Venetian islands, where the Biennale is located.

Venetian water bus

Bus stop dining

Murano

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