Petr understood glass from the perspective of humans, from craftsmanship and the power of the (Czech) glass tradition - which has always included cosmopolitanism and cross-border exchange between glassmakers. His aim and purpose, however, was the deeply human need for beauty, which is another central component of Ajeto's global success: it is about the full potential of glass, which Petr unleashed by bringing glass and art together, from studio glass to arts and crafts, to interior design and from there to architecture, embracing kitsch, humour and joie de vivre.
Petr's colourful and playful glass creations, hand in hand with craft products and the artworks of his Czech and international glass friends, surrounded us visitors in the glassworks, in the shop, in the restaurant and in the glass museum in Nový Bor. We encountered them in the town - and soon also in Frauenau, in the glass museum and the glass gardens, and in exhibitions and benefit events of Bild-Werk. Petr first taught at the studio glass furnace at Bild-Werk Frauenau back in 1994. When we had to close it down in 2006, he vehemently urged us to build a new furnace: glassmaking knowledge must be passed on, an international glass school without a furnace was unthinkable for him (same might be true concerning German and EU bureaucracy, which prevented us from putting up a furnace 'just like that'). Since 2013, in the new hot glass studio, he has repeatedly taught summer courses, most recently together with his son Ondřej. Particularly memorable is the master class for studio glassmakers at the Frauenau Glass Symposium in spring 2006, which took place in the Eisch glassworks and took its inspiration directly from the glassblowers and pieceworkers around the same big pot furnace. Petr was not only the course leader here, but also brought his Ajeto glassblowers to the Bavarian-Bohemian glassmakers' meeting at the Eisch glassworks, helping (as he usually did) with both tools and sponsorship, barrels of Czech beer, and inviting everybody to Nový Bor. The last time we enjoyed Petr's hospitality was in February 2019 at the start of the EU project "Glass Works". Together with our project partners from Bornholm, Ústi nad Labem and Graz, we planned our start-up training sessions for budding glassmakers right in Petr's glass museum in Nový Bor, in the very seminar room that had been set up to teach English to the Ajeto glassmakers. Today, when we engage for the future of glassmaking at the Frauenau "Glass Culture Campus" in his spirit, we do so with sadness and great gratitude to a great man. Danke Petr – děkujeme – Thank You. Katharina Eisch-Angus on behalf of Bild-Werk Frauenau
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Bild-Werk has started a petition to demand financial support for the concept of the GLAS KULTUR CAMPUS (more HERE). This petition brings together the friends of Erwin and Gretel Eisch and supporters of Bild-Werk Frauenau and beyond in the worldwide studio glass community, and all those who have lost their hearts in Frauenau.
We call upon the Bavarian State Government to financially support the concept of a GLASS CULTURE CAMPUS and to sustainably secure the future of glass and art in Frauenau NOW. Please sign the petition and let the heart of glass continue to beat! ![]() After 4 years the GLASS WORKS project has successfully ended. On April 14 and 15 we will conclude the project and its accompanying exhibition with a final symposium in Frauenau. On Saturday, 20 GLASS WORKS trainees will present themselves and their works/enterprises in a fair in the glass museum. Additionally, there will be demonstrations with hot and cold glass, a fusing workshop for kids, expert discussions and a guided exhibition tour. We cordially invite you to join us on Friday from 4 to 6 pm in Bild-Werk Frauenau, and on Saturday, from 10 am to 7 pm in the Frauenau glass museum! Take a look at the programme here: PROGRAMM GLASS SPRING In 2023, the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung will for the second time award up to ten scholarships for participation in a workshop at the International Summer Academy Bild-Werk Frauenau. With the scholarships the foundation aims to support emerging artists who work with the medium glass, and to make it easier for them to start their careers. The workshops enable the scholarship holders to expand their professional knowledge and develop their artistic skills through encounters and intensive exchange. The scholarship enables the artists to experiment and to implement their own designs and concepts with the material glass.
The scholarships, endowed with 2,200 euros, are awarded to artists who, at the time of their application, have graduated from an art academy or completed their artistic training at a glass college or university of applied sciences within the last five years. For more information, please visit the website of the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung: www.atstiftung.de About the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung The Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung promotes art and science. It was established in 2000 by the entrepreneur Alexander Tutsek and his wife Dr. Eva-Maria Fahrner-Tutsek as a non-profit foundation. The foundation is consciously committed to the special, the neglected and the overlooked. ![]() The GLASS WORKS touring exhibition has arrived at its final stop! After 3 years and 5 venues in Denmark, Austria and Czech Republic, the exhibition will be shown one last time in the Glasmuseum Frauenau. We cordially invite you to the opening on October 29 at 6 pm. The exhibition portraits 5 European glass landscapes with their characteristic profiles in international studio glass, applied arts, high-tech, refined crystal glass and scandinavian design. In addition, works in design and art by young glass artists, makers and designers who were part of the GLASS WORKS start-up training are presented. Come and visit the exhibition from October 30, 2022 til April 15, 2023 at the Glasmuseum Frauenau! For more info on the project GLASS WORKS and the exhibition visit: www.glass-works.org/en/
Bild-Werk Frauenau has invested a lot of voluntary work in GLASS WORKS over the past years, because we we are convinced that it is important to support emerging glass makers in Germany and Europe and give them a career perspective. But there is still a big funding gap which we now try to close with our crowdfunding campaign.
If you are convinced that we are on the right track with GLASS WORKS as well, please support our campaign! You can support us by simply donating money, getting some nice gifts in exchange for your donation or by sharing the information about the campaign with all the people you know. Go to https://www.startnext.com/en/glass-works to get more information and to support GLASS WORKS! ![]() Our printed course catalogues for the 2022 academy program have finally arrived. If you would like one or more sent to you, please contact our office: info[at]bild-werk-frauenau.de or +49(0)9926/180895. Would you like to help us advertising for our summer academy in Germany and/or internationally? We would be happy if you help us distribute the catalogues to associations, museums, institutions etc. related to art and design, crafts and/or glass. On request, we will also be happy to send out flyers for display! A digital commemorative book has been published on our website. Anyone who would like to share memories of and thoughts about Erwin is invited to post them there: www.bildwerkfrauenau.de/gedenkbuch/memorial-book-for-erwin-eisch
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