Renata Ferrari
Mu-Glass Art
Beadworker
Venice, Italy
Venitian beads and a family legacy
- Renata learned bead making from her mother
- She has several lines of beads, ranging from traditional to contemporary
- Her co-workers started training with her when they were 15 years old
Renata Ferrari has been making beads since she was a child, influenced by her mother Adelina, an expert Venetian bead maker. "My mother would use the same small furnace to make beads and bake sweets," she says. "I still associate the fire to the sweet scent of barley desserts." On this very flame, Renata was taught the craft, never once burning herself with it despite its high temperature. She opened her own workshop at 25 years old, and her mother, who once was her teacher, became her business partner and muse. In 2016, Renata joined the Swiss Alco Group's Murano Glass Technology division to preserve the ancestral know-how of Venetian bead making. She also works full-time as a creator and director, leading projects alongside stylists, designers and universities.
INTERVIEW
I create art. Through La Perla Veneziana, I sell beads and necklaces. I also work with fashion designers, creating exclusive pieces for their collections, and I have a line of beads made out of exclusively recycled materials.
Jewellery making is considered a feminine craft, but what I actually do is handle boiling matter and work with a furnace. My great-grandmother believed that men and women only differ in the fact that men eat more: it was a very forward idea back then, it has led men and women in our family to learn how to do everything, regardless of gender.
Bead making in Venice is something very common, a lot of people do it. When my mother saw our work exhibited at the tradeshows in Paris, she could not believe we had managed to take it so far. Today, there are several women working with me: I started training them when they were 15 years old, now they are 40, we grew up together.
In general, a jewel is considered relevant only if it is gold or made in other precious materials. Costume jewellery is not considered important, its artistic value and the work behind it is simply not acknowledged. However in 2020, glass bead making has become a UNESCO heritage craft.
Renata Ferrari
Mu-Glass Art
Beadworker
Venice, Italy
AVAILABILITY
By appointment only
PHONE
+39 3534757214
LANGUAGES
Italian, French, English
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