MADE IN Residency – Glass: From Heritage to Circular Economy
Share on
Glass: From Heritage to Circular Economy – A Residency Program Blending Tradition and Innovation
Date: 28th September – 29th October 2024
Locations: Stanišić Atelier, Sombor & Museum of Applied Art, Belgrade
This fall, from September 28 to October 29, 2024, Stanišić Atelier in Sombor and the Museum of Applied Art in Belgrade will host the artistic residency “Glass: From Heritage to Circular Economy”. This event features Dublin-based artist James Earley and Aleksandra Stanišić, uniting modern art with stained-glass craftsmanship through innovative approaches.
During his one-month stay, James Earley will explore themes deeply rooted in the socio-political landscape through his stained-glass works, encapsulating elements of power, societal imbalances, and more. His collaboration with Aleksandra Stanišić is built upon a shared heritage in stained-glass artistry, further enriched by their vivid exchanges on professional and familial legacies.
The residency will see the creation of a paravane piece, drawing inspiration from various artistic domains such as street art, graphic design, digital art, and notably, Serbian cultural heritage items like the glass collections of the Museum of Applied Art and the urban-street scenes of Belgrade. This piece aims to marry digital manipulation with traditional stained-glass techniques, showcasing a fusion of old and new.
The culmination of this residency will be an exhibition of the final artwork at the Museum of Applied Art in Belgrade, set for December 2024. This exhibition will not only display the innovative paravane but also highlight the ongoing dialogue between traditional crafts and contemporary artistic expression.
James Earley lives and works in Dublin. His artistic practice draws from street art, graphic design and passed down knowledge of stained glass making. His signature is the visual deconstruction of form, carefully constructed in new symmetry and balance. James’s pieces are made through application of digital tools in service of analogue artworks, “he embraces technology to create complex, layered, highly charged compositions”. In 2020 and 2019, he exhibited his work at “VUE, RHA” in Dublin, “Art on Paper” in New York, “Venice Glass Week”, “Seattle Art Fair” and “RHA Annual Exhibition” in Dublin. James was awarded the Business to Arts, Best Use of Creativity in the Community Award in 2019.
Atelje Stanišić (Stanišić Atelier) is the oldest still operating stained glass workshop in Serbia. Established in 1908 in Sombor by Milan Stanišić, it has for five generations been the home of stained-glass production, decorating buildings in Serbia and abroad. Today, the four-people team in its workshop creates new and restores old works under the mindful eye of Aleksandra Stanišić. Aleksandra’s daughter Ena Borovac seems to be the next in the line of “glass lovers”, knowing the craft and thinking of new understanding of the technique and its possibilities in contemporary terms.
This realization is supported by the Ministry of Culture.
