Stanislav Libenský Award (established in 2009) is the world’s only international glass exhibition with graduates call for entry

Stanislav Libenský is considered as the most outstanding Czech glasswork artist and pedagogist. His works created in collaboration with Jaroslava Brychtová are presented in museums and galleries all over the world. Besides his work, he was teaching at Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague and he was a director and pedagogist the School of Applied Arts for Glassmaking in Železný Brod where he lived and worked for the majority of of his life.

The competition serves as an international presentation of young glass artists. The aim of the competition is to help the development of glass art in the young scene and to compare different approaches and methods. The initiator and main organiser – the Prague Gallery of Czech Glass – hopes that this competition, followed by a long term exhibition, will help young artists enter the business world and explore the potential of glass.

Past iterations of the exhibition featured many excellent works by artists from around 30 countries and 40 universities.

Jury

Alena Matějková (CZ) is a sculptor, artist and glass designer. She was student of Prof. Vladimir Kopecky at Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. Alena Matějková creates both small and huge sculptures from stone, marble, glass or even ice. She works with small sculptures which floating in water, but also builds huge installations. Her designs are numerous, from doors, fragments of walls, chandeliers, royal crowns, boats, flowers, people and more. She gets her inspiration from ancient ornament, from myths and stories, woven together with her own dreams. Her works is often about the light. She is represented in many collections around the world, where he also exhibited at a number of solo and group exhibitions. For her works she has received international and Czech awards.

Amy Schwartz (US) joined The Corning Museum of Glass in 1995 to create The Studio, the artistic and educational glassworking facility of the Museum that provide programs for people of all ages and all levels of glass expertise. Schwartz designs curricula; hires internationally recognized glass artists as faculty; oversees selection of students; distributes scholarship funds; and directs residency, walk-in, group, and school programs. Since 2002, Schwartz has overseen education programs for the entire Museum. In 2007, she became head of the development department and joined the Museum’s leadership team.

Ašot Haas (SK) graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, ateliers of Industrial Design (F. Chrenka) Transport Design (S. Klein), Glass Design (J. Gavula) and Sculptures, Objects, Installation (J. Meliš). Works of this young artist, that could be classified as geometric abstraction and constructivism, oscillates between design, sculpture and atelier glass. In 2007 he was awarded the prestigious Gallery Nova Award for glass. Ašot Haas exhibits throughout Europe and the USA, and his works are in collections of major art galleries.

Krzysztof Kucharczyk (PL) is an art historian, graduate of Wrocław University and Warsaw School of Economics (Management of Culture), currently manager of the BWA Gallery of Glass and Ceramics in Wrocław, producer and curator of numerous exhibitions, with over 30 organized exhibitions, mainly of glass and ceramics (including e.g. Jacob and Me / J. Berdych, Dance / D. Drozdowska, Process / K. Szczęsna, War and Peace, Moreover / E. Grosseova).

Reino Liefkes (UK) is Head of Ceramics & Glass at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Born and educated in the Netherlands, Reino studied Art History at Leyden University. He joined the V&A Museum in 1992 and has been head of the Ceramics and Glass Section since 2004. Reino specialises in glass and European earthenware and was the lead curator of the new V&A Ceramics Galleries which opened in 2009-2010.Reino is the author/editor of Glass (V&A 1997) and Masterpieces of World Ceramics (V&A 2008). He is currently Chairman of the ICOM (International Council of Museums) International Glass Committee.

Professional supervisor is Mgr. Milan Hlaveš, Ph.D. (CZ) an art historian and curator. He is a head of collections of glass, ceramics and porcelain in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague. He worked at the National Technical Museum and at the Museum of Glass and Jewellery in Jablonec nad Nisou. He is an author and co-author of more than forty exhibitions, numerous articles in professional journals and member of many committees competition.