Italy and France are filled with hope as their glass-bead artists make it to the Unesco heritage list amid pandemic

Gulf Today Report

Any kind of unique art is absolutely commendable.

Venice, which is usually filled with tourists from all over the world, has turned into a ghost town because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

But maybe this listing of the glass bead artisans from their country could try and help and bring hope to the artists amid the pandemic.

 A vase glass is shaped at the Gambero-Tagliapietra glass art products manufacturer.

Unesco has highlighted both Italy and France for the art of glass beads.

The countries aresaying that the practice "is closely linked to the wealth of knowledge and mastery of a material (glass) and element (fire)".

The delicate and intricate beads are a speciality of the island of Murano, in the Italian city's lagoon, where skilled workers have been making glass for centuries.

The heritage body highlighted the "lume" technique, where glass is melted around a metal rod and then shaped, along with "da canna" beads, made by cutting and softening hollow canes of glass.

 Italian artist and craftsman Davide Penso holds Murano glass pearls at his workshop.

The production of glass beads in Venice has been documented at least since the 14th century, and for hundreds of years they were considered a precious commodity for exchange and export worldwide.

Even when demand for glass objects fell, the production of pearls continued to flourish and kept the industry growing.

But the history of Venetian glass pearls has often been forgotten, as their creators are generally unknown, unlike the renowned glass masters, who crafted sculptures and vases in the Murano glass furnaces.

 A view shows Gianni Moretti, the son of Igino Moretti who founded the Moretti glassworks company.

The glass factories have been based on the island since they were ordered to move there in 1291 after causing too many fires in the city's centre.