Centre suisse de recherche sur le vitrail et les arts du verre

Beyond the Masterpiece: Embracing Failure in Ceramic and Glass Art

The fields of ceramic and glass art have long been shaped by ideals of mastery, control, and perfection. Museums, collections, and scholarship often privilege the ‘masterpiece’ – objects that embody technical excellence and aesthetic resolution. Yet behind every successful work lies a spectrum of experiments, misfires, and unexpected outcomes. These ‘failed’ objects, frequently overlooked or discarded, hold critical insights into artistic processes, material behavior, and the evolving definitions of value in art and craft. This conference invites researchers, artists, conservators, and curators to reconsider failure not as an endpoint, but rather as a productive and revealing dimension of ceramic and glass practice. By shifting focus from perfected objects to those deemed ‘not quite right’, we seek to open new dialogues about knowledge production, material agency, conservation ethics, and contemporary artistic approaches.

―― Call for papers

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Stained Glass in Islamic Lands

Trans-Mediterranean Networks, Local Identities and Glass Technology (2025–2029)

This SNSF project, conducted between 2025–2029, is dedicated to the multifaceted history of stained glass and dalle de verre in North Africa during the 19th and 20th century. The project’s main objective is to analyse the connections and interplay between production, commercialisation, perception and development of these art forms in the colonial and post-colonial era.

―― Recherche

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Rapport annuel 2025

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Vitroarchives

Le catalogue d’archives du Vitrocentre Romont est maintenant disponible en ligne.

Le Vitrocentre Romont possède une riche collection d’archives consacrées à l’art verrier qui n’existe nulle part ailleurs en Suisse. Les fonds d’artistes et d’ateliers, d’historien·nes de l’art ou encore d’associations actives dans le domaine du verre, allant du XIXe au XXIe siècle, constituent une opportunité unique pour la recherche scientifique.

Les fonds conservés par le Vitrocentre Romont sont disponibles pour la consultation et sont accessibles via l’inventaire en ligne.

À VOS AGENDAS

Des événements à ne pas manquer

28 JUIN 2026

Visite guidée

Jennifer Burkard, commissaire de l'exposition "Esprit moderne : Carlo Scarpa et le vitrail suisse du XXe siècle" vous invite à une visite guidée en français, de 15h à 16h.

13-14 MAI 2027

International conference

This conference sets out to explore the multifaceted realm of technical failures in glass and ceramic arts.