The Coburg Prize for Contemporary Glass is Europe’s most important award for contemporary glass art. It is accompanied by an exhibition at the Veste Coburg and in the European Museum for Modern Glas in Rödental. Focusing on new tendencies of glass art,  works by 90 international artists will be shown at these places between 10 April and 25 September 2022. The highly topical objects and the variety of production-techniques make this show a fascinating event in the International Year of Glass 2022.

The first prize, worth 15.000 Euros, went to the Icelandic / Norwegian Æsa Björk. Her work “Fragments”, which consists of two large, convex lenses, is based on a particularly sophisticated manufacturing technique. The fragile pâte de verre texture of the blistered, in some places perforated glass surface, with its silvery sheen and resulting reflections has something magical about it, reminiscent of the Big Bang and the creation of the universe.

The Irish artist Alison Lowry won the second prize of 10.000 Euros for her sculptural group of christening gowns and baby shoes, executed in the most delicate pâte de verre technique. Lowry succeeds in creating a touching memorial to the decades of tragic treatment of illegitimate children in church run mother-and-baby homes in Ireland.

Judith Röder from Germany received the 3rd prize, endowed with 5.000 Euros, for an installation made of superficially antiquated overhead projectors. Discarded window panes serve as projection templates. These seemingly unimportant remnants are impressively recontextualized in the projected image, reminiscent of micro and macro photographs from nature.

Other award winners are Petr Stanický, Czech Republic, who receives the Senior Prize of the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung (> 45 years, € 5.000), Slovakian Kristína Ligačová, who receives the Prize of the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung (€ 2.000) and Zuzana Kubelková, Czech Republic, receiving the Prize of the Achilles-Stiftung (< 35 years, € 2.000). The Honorary Prize in memory of Otto Waldrich (€ 2.000, donated by Gertrud Bartelmus) goes to the Swedish artist Ulla Forsell.

Jury

Doc Magr. Katarína Beňová, PhD, Curator Slovenská národná galéria, Bratislava

Dr. Sven Hauschke, Director Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg

Maja Heuer, Project leader Unika historiska Kalmar Län

Franz X. Höller, Artist, Zwiesel

Reino Liefkes, Senior Curator Ceramics and Glass, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Anne Vanlatum, Conseiller Artistique, MusVerre, Sars-Poteries

Dr. Verena Wasmuth, Art Consultant, Berlin

Æsa Björks participation in the exhibition was supported by UD / Norwegian Crafts and S12 Galleri og Verksted.