We are pleased to welcome you to The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia for Glasstress. Window to the Future from 11 September to 31 October 2021.

The latest edition of Glasstress, our internationally acclaimed exhibition that showcases artworks made with glass by contemporary artists, is a joint venture by The State Hermitage Museum with Fondazione Berengo and Berengo Studio, and features an array of award-winning artists from around the world.

Glasstress. Window to the Future, The State Hermitage Museum

Glasstress. Window to the Future, Installation View  – Photo credit Svetlana Ragina

This isn’t the first time Berengo Studio has worked with the Hermitage. In fact, back in 2015 the exhibition Glasstress 2015 Gotika, was organized by the State Hermitage and held in the Palazzo Franchetti in Venice during the Venice Biennale. The display included items from the museum’s collection – armour, religious objects, and other works of applied art made in the Gothic and Neo-Gothic styles – that were presented in a dialogue with pieces created by contemporary artists in Murano at Berengo Studio. This year we’re mixing it up, bringing Murano to Saint Petersburg with the work of over fifty contemporary artists. Last time the past was our inspiration, this time it’s the future.

Glasstress. Window to the Future, The State Hermitage Museum

Glasstress. Window to the Future, Installation View – Photo credit Svetlana Ragina

Glasstress. Window to the Future is one of the museum’s largest exhibitions of contemporary art, occupying more than ten halls, including the monumental expanse of the Grand Enfilade and White Hall, as well as the intimate spaces of the Courtyard Gallery and the Red Halls in the General Staff Building.

It features more than 50 works created in glass by contemporary artists and the participants include award-winning figures such as Ai Weiwei, Renate Bertlmann, Koen Vanmechelen, Michael Joo, Petah Coyne, Mat Collishaw, and Laure Prouvost. Of particular interest are the pieces produced by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, the Chapman Brothers, Jaume Plensa and Hans Op de Beeck, artists whose works have already been shown with great success in exhibitions at the Hermitage. The wide range of international artists will allow visitors to discover how the traditional glass techniques of Murano have been integrated into the world of contemporary art, and how glass as a medium continues to surprise and revolutionise artistic thinking.

Glasstress. Window to the Future, The State Hermitage Museum

Glasstress. Window to the Future, Installation View – Photo credit Svetlana Ragina

Participating artists: Ai Weiwei, Erdağ Aksel, Polly Apfelbaum, Charles Avery, Miroslaw Balka, Fiona Banner, Renate Bertlmann, Monica Bonvicini, Penny Byrne, Loris Cecchini, César, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Mat Collishaw, Petah Coyne, Tony Cragg, Jimmie Durham, Jan Fabre, Josepha Gasch-Muche, Kendell Geers, Abdulnasser Gharem, Michael Joo, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, Marya Kazoun, Karen Lamonte, Vik Muniz, Hans Op De Beeck, Tony Oursler, Mimmo Paladino, Cornelia Parker, Anne Peabody, Jaume Plensa, Laure Prouvost, Qiu Zhijie, Antonio Riello, Sean Scully, Wael Shawky, Sudarshan Shetty, Song Dong, Lino Tagliapietra, Tim Tate, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Kaneuji Teppei, Gavin Turk, Koen Vanmechelen, Joana Vasconcelos, Fred Wilson, Wu Jian’an, Erwin Wurm, Yin Xiuzhen


A visitor admires Justinian’s Oculus by Tim Tate at the Opening of Glasstress. Window to the Future – Photo credit Valentina Khrebtova

The exhibition has been organized with the support of the Consulate General of Italy in Saint Petersburg and Kerama Marazzi in collaboration with the Ermitage Italia and Villaggio Globale International.

Click here for the press release.