On February 19th the winners of the International Art and Design Glass Competition Milano Vetro -35 have been announced at the Sforzesco Castle Museum in Milan.
The competition aims to promote innovative use of glass material in both artistic and contemporary design, and the selection of the city of Milan and Castello Sforzesco intends to replicate the historic continuity and importance of Milan's capital in the creation and display of glass works.
Paulius Rainys, an alumni and lecturer at Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius Academy of Arts has won Enrico Bersellini scholarship for residency at a private studio in Venice, Murano, for his glass sculpture "Golden Soul".
Surprisingly the place of Sforza Castle has a lot of in common with my country's Lithuania history. It is symbolical that this sculpture is dedicated to Bona Sforza d’Aragona (1494 –1557), Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania and it’s a tribute to her in a visual monument which depicts her “Golden Soul”. Member of the powerful House of Sforza, which ruled the Duchy of Milan since 1447, she became the second wife of Sigismund I the Old, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1518. Ambitious and energetic, Bona Sforza became heavily involved in the political life of Poland– Lithuania. To increase state revenue, she implemented various economic, cultural and agricultural reforms in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Her reforms made her the richest landowner in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Paulius Rainys
The competition consists of Simona Cesana, curator of applied art and author of the specialty magazine Mestieri dell'arte, Sven Hauschke, director of the German Museum of Coburg Art Glass, Silvia Levenson, architect Santiago Miranda and Iolanda Ratti, curator of the Museo del Novecento in Milan.
All 36 finalists will be exhibited by 2020. April 19th at the prestigious Castello Sforzesco Sala della Balla exhibition.
