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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10/10/2024 10:35:58
My wife and I are very sad to read the news that Petr passed away last month of May.
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