What do Kengo Kuma, Joseph Kosuth, and Philippe Starck have in common? Besides being three of the most renowned names on today’s global creative stage, they have all embraced the challenge posed by Murano Illumina il Mondo, a project promoted by The Venice Glass Week and the Municipality of Venice. This initiative invites eleven internationally acclaimed artists to the Venetian lagoon to engage with a unique material: glass.
The fusion of contemporary creativity and Murano craftsmanship has given life to eleven artist-designed chandeliers, which will light up throughout the Christmas season and beyond, until March 4, 2025, under the arches of the Procuratie Vecchie in St. Mark's Square. This open-air exhibition is a gift to the Venetian community and the thousands of visitors who pass through the arcade daily. It is an urban installation that highlights top-tier design, made possible by collaborations with the most prestigious Murano glass furnaces and their master artisans.
A centuries-old tradition with ancient origins, the art of glass is far from being outdated. This malleable, fluid, and fragile yet incredibly versatile material is no longer confined to the tableware designs of Murano’s ancient craftsmanship. In the hands of contemporary artists, architects, and designers, glass becomes indeed an extraordinary medium of beauty, showcasing its boundless expressive potential.
For example, the renowned conceptual artist Joseph Kosuth, in collaboration with the Fornace Barbini Specchi Veneziani, has created his first work ever to diverge from his signature use of neon. For Enlighten’s the Word, Kosuth chose mirrored glass, designing an abstract silhouette of a classic Rezzonico chandelier and making it three-dimensional and self-reflective. Perfectly centered under the vault, the work plays with mirrors and symmetries, offering a near-transparent viewing experience.
Kengo Kuma takes on the challenge with dieXe, a modular glass sculpture created with the Fornace Salviati. The work is based on the perfect interlocking of rectangular shapes and revisits the concept of “parcellization”, a key theme in Kuma’s vision. This involves breaking down a larger structure into smaller, manageable parts, creating a modular system that enhances interaction between its components while maintaining functional integrity.
Meanwhile, from the collaboration between French designer Philippe Starck and Aristide Najean comes Quadri, a surreal chandelier crafted in dark amethyst. This floral-inspired masterpiece, born from the imagination, heart, and a touch of madness of Starck, blends mystery, beauty, strangeness, and poetry into a single captivating creation.
Floral themes return in Colpo di vento, a chandelier by Kimiko Yoshida made in collaboration with the Fornace Seguso Gianni Murano. Inspired by the hues of cherry blossoms—a national symbol of Japan—the piece merges Venetian Rococo and Japanese minimalism. Equally notable are the “scaled” experiments of American artist Deborah Czeresko, who, working with the Fornace Massimiliano Schiavon Art Team, replaces the chandelier arms with colorful serpents, subverting the sound of light emitted from their tongues as a benevolent presence.
Walking beneath these extraordinary works is not just an aesthetic experience but a tribute to creative genius, which continues to find in the Venetian lagoon an inexhaustible source of inspiration.
Opening image: Hans Weigand, Venetian Wavebreakers Chandelier, Master Nicola Causin, fornace Berengo Studio. Photo Giorgio Bombieri