Today’s
Enlightening Entertainment
will be presented
in Romanian,
English and French,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Indonesian, Italian,
Japanese, Korean,
Malay, Mongolian,
Persian, Portuguese,
Romanian, Russian,
Spanish and Thai.
Greetings gracious viewers,
and welcome
to today’s
Enlightening Entertainment.
Today, we are going to
visit a Romanian
art glass exhibition
in Canada, to enjoy
the beautiful creations
that are exquisite in color,
shape, and design.
This exhibition is part of
the city-wide celebration
known as “Montreal,
City of Glass 2010,”
joined by over 100
exhibitions and activities
exploring all aspects
of glass.
The event was made
possible through
the kind support of
the Museum of the Masters
and Artisans of Quebec.
My name is
Stéphane Dion.
I am the Deputy
of the Saint-Laurent–
Cartierville.
This is my museum,
in the sense that
it belongs to me,
in the sense that
it is in my county.
I am very proud of it.
This year we have
a Romanian exhibition.
Hi, my name is Natalie
and I am here to visit
the Romanian glass expo
– very beautiful!
This is my first time ever
seeing work like this
and I’m intrigued
and inspired
so enjoy for yourself.
I know I will, thank you.
Romania has
a long tradition of
making glass ornaments.
The sophisticated
techniques of glass making,
such as glass blowing
and glass fusing,
have been passed from
generation to generation.
With the country’s
fine sand,
the artisans produce
beautiful glassware
with great creativity.
While their high-quality
glassware is functional,
it also adds warmth
and style to homes.
Now,
Ms. Madalina Munteanu,
the representative
of the Romanian
glassware company,
Artgeorgies,
will introduce to us
the colorful world
of Romanian glass art.
I think it started
in Romania as being unique,
after that it was brought
to Europe and America.
And after that,
this type of work started
being used by different
other companies.
But this type of work
has a lot of fineness
and uses a very
good quality glass.
Usually, if you put
together two glasses
from different companies,
with this kind of product,
you can see very well
the quality of glass
that is used by the art.
It’s a very fine glass,
and it’s a very unique
art work, that the client
has the possibility
to use it in his own home,
in his own environment.
Blown glass is one of
Romania’s popular glass
collectibles for its artistry.
With a blow tube,
the molten glass bubble
can be transformed into
different designed shapes.
Mr. Ion Tămâian
is a renowned
Romanian glass artist.
Graduated from
the Ion Andreescu
Institute of Fine Arts
in 1982, Mr. Tămâian has
been working on fine arts,
especially
the glass domain,
for more than two decades.
He incorporates
various art materials
into his blown glass
and thus creates unique
artistic expressions.
His prolific artworks
have been displayed in
national and international
exhibitions as well as
galleries around
the world.
He is the owner of
the Ion Art Glass firm.
Mr. Ion Tămâian is
a very well known artist
in Romania.
He does a lot of art works
from blown glass, with
a lot of mixed materials,
like we see here, these
are dancers from blown
glass, and masks.
Of course we can see
other products, vases,
and a lot of elements that
you can use in special
interiors, in your homes.
Mosaic is another form
of glass art expression.
It takes an artist’s talent
and skills to create
mosaic masterpieces.
From designing,
sketching on paper,
selecting glass, painting
and backing the glass,
to cutting and assembling
the work, each step
requires the artist’s
meticulous expertise
and an eye for details.
The following mosaic
work uses the technique
of double glazing,
which fuses two layers
of glass in the kiln.
They have the ability to
create different subjects
from fused glass and
mosaic, and they can
work for private houses
and different themes.
They do reproduction
like this reproduction
of the work of Van Gogh.
And something
very interesting is that
they produce all
the materials that are
used in this painting
or work, mosaic work.
This is a mixed technique:
We have double-glazed
glass mosaic, we have
this tone called mosaic.
It’s actually still glass
but it’s spaced glass.
And we have the fused
element of glass,
which creates these
three dimensional
stories of the painting.
So it’s not only plain glass,
it’s in relief.
And the petals of the
flowers are in fused glass,
so it’s melted glass.
Everything is hand-made,
so it’s quite a work.
For this company,
we have more artists who
work, it’s not only one.
There are young artists
who have finished
the art university.
And usually for
a painting like this,
only one artist works
to create it.
Seeking quality works
of museum standard,
artisans would carefully
select the type of mosaic
to use to ensure
the best outcome.
The following work,
a Byzantine-style panel
depicting Blessed Mary
and Baby Jesus,
utilizes a special kind of
mosaic tile which allows
the lines and colors to be
seen in maximum detail.
The unique characteristic
of this type of mosaic
is the fact that
the producer of it
has a certificate
for this mosaic.
It’s called the George’s
mosaic, and it permits
the cutting of the glass
in very, very small pieces,
which permits for
the features of the face
to become more natural
and create the line
as in real person.
This type of mosaic has
received in Europe…
three gold medals
in the Inventic Saloons.
And this is the main
characteristic
and the high point,
the fact that it can be cut
in very small pieces.
Hand painted fused glass
is another type
of glass artwork.
Fused glass paintings
are achieved through
firing paints in a kiln,
so the colors can be
highly durable.
This is an example of
a fused glass technique,
which means that
the hand paint,
it’s made first on the glass.
And after all the pieces
of glass are put
in the oven and burnt
at over 800 Centigrade,
that creates
the possibility
for the color to become
more resistant in time,
and actually it has
a guarantee of 50 years.
It doesn’t need
any redone of the colors
or the shape.
These are hand painted
fused glass,
decorative objects.
By fusing them
at over 800 Centigrade,
the color enters the glass,
so it stays, it can be washed,
it can be used
in the rain or in the sun.
The painting doesn’t
suffer any change.
Next, we are going to see
artworks of
the Romanian artist
Mr. Şerban Popa.
Born in 1946,
Mr. Şerban Popa
graduated from
the Institute of Fine Arts
“Nicolae Grigorescu.”
He has been honored
with several awards,
including the
“Golden Palette” Prize
by the International
Federation of Commerce,
Industry and Economics
in France in 1980.
His creations reflect
the simplicity and
sophistication presented
in the works of the
internationally renowned
Romanian sculptor,
Mr. Constantin Brâncuşi.
These products are
art works actually,
from the Romanian artist
that has studied a lot the
shape and form of glass,
and tone, and time.
Şerban Popa is one
of the well-known artists,
because he has his own
artwork and pieces that
are shownnot in glass
but in stone.
We all know Brâncuşi,
so if someone can make
a connection
to the Romanian art,
he should think
of Brâncuşi. (Okay.)
He was a genius
in sculptures, and I think
that his followers
are in an exhibition here
in Montreal.
The glass exhibition also
presents decorative glass
items from Euro Design,
a glassware company
owned by the Art
Nouveau French master,
Émile Gallé.
The glass art of
that period features
decorative motifs
borrowed from nature.
Art Nouveau artists,
such as Émile Gallé,
Jean Daum,
and Charles Schneider,
created art
deco masterpieces that
enhance people’s daily
life with the beautiful
artistic expressions.
These are Euro Design
company products.
These are Gallé-type
of products.
They are hand-made.
They are decorative items
from special glass.
The types of products
that are made from
these producers are
Gallé, Daum Nancy,
and Schneider.
Let us now find out what
the attendees think about
the Romanian
glass exhibition.
Halo. My name is Fadya.
I just saw the exhibition.
I really liked
the Romanian glass, yes.
I thought it was wonderful!
It's hard work,
especially the little things
right here behind me
which are light, thin,
and beautiful to behold.
It’s certainly unique,
the shapes are unique.
This is my first time
seeing glasswork like this,
so different and bended
in different shapes.
So I do like the uniqueness
of the glasswork.
This is the way that
we can come and each
individual can kind of
receive something
from another culture
on their own
and they take their time
to explore it.
It’s a very nice event with
people and artists from
all over the community,
taking the time to expose
to us what’s part
of their soul, what’s part
of their culture, what’s
part of colors of culture.
I’m blown away by
the quality of the work,
by the differences and
the diversity of the art.
And I’m just very
impressed and pleased
to be here.
We thank all
the Romanian artists
for sharing their talents
and inspirations
to people everywhere.
Our special thanks go to
Mr. Stéphane Dion for
promoting intercultural
understanding,
and Ms. Madalina
Munteanu for leading us
through the exhibition.
May the beauty of
Romanian art creations
further enrich our world.
Beautiful viewers,
thank you for joining us
today on
Enlightening Entertainment.
Please stay tuned to
Supreme Master Television.
Up next is
Words of Wisdom,
after Noteworthy News.
May you enjoy
many joyous moments
with your loved ones.