Visit to the Murano Glass Exhibition at the Kunstpalast
On an extremely hot day, ten brave ladies visited the Murano Glass exhibition in the Kunstpalast and enjoyed a really “cool“ exhibition…thanks to the exquisite glass art on show and very pleasant air conditioning. 
From the 13th century onwards, Venice developed into the global capital of glass art. The best raw materials were available in the port, enabling the production of new types of glass and over many generations their expertise in the use of the glassmaker‘s pipe was unmatched elsewhere.
After 500 years of ups and downs, the 19th century saw a new dawn and Murano regained its reputation in the 1870‘s.
After the Second World War, a new generation of designers brought new ideas to Murano. Foreign trading houses, for example in France and the USA, secured the production facilities through their regular orders.
The step towards free artistic sculpture was rarely taken…but with their fascination for glass as a material, artists from all over the world, such as the sculptor Tony Cragg, are now turning their ideas into glass on Murano. “The Murano Mythos“ still attracts visitors to Venice.
There were so many beautiful exhibits, one of which I found to be especially intriguing…the prize-winning “Nächtliche Nr 6“ by Karen LaMonte. A fragile, black ballgown in multi-layers of dark-coloured glass, which she developed herself together with German technologists. She uses it to create female figurations of the night, which she calls “Nocturnes“ modelled on musical compositions: “somber, seductive and inscrutable“ (aren‘t we all!).
The Good Mother: There are many expressions for evaluating motherly behaviour—from “mother hen“ in English to “Rabenmutter“ in German (literally “raven’s mother“, a neglecting mother). It is all too easy to pigeonhole maternal conduct as if there were objective criteria by which it could be judged. Ideas of motherhood have been moulded over the course of history. In the Christian world, the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus embodied the ideal image of motherly devotion for centuries. This shaped the idea of the “good mother“, which emerged in the mid-18th century and placed a woman‘s life entirely at the service of her children. Contemporary artists play with this stereo-type, which is still present today, and test its limits through exaggeration. Being perceived as maternal can make powerful and influential women such as politicians and queens approachable, but it can also reduce them to their gender. Motherhood is a yardstick by which a woman’s performance is measured—even if she is not a biological mother.
I had wondered why there were so many young mothers with their babies there…and this was the reason. There was a pro-active session (MAMAPHONE) where thoughts and experiences as a mother had been sent in via voice messages and could now be heard in a huge room installation…visitors had the opportunity to include their own experiences and be part of the exhibition.
Many thanks Margaret for organising this interesting event for us and the Club.