22nd January 2021
Building on the successful launch of the inaugural “GLASS, MEET THE FUTURE” Film Festival in 2020 online at North Lands Creative, we are excited to announce “GLASS, MEET THE FUTURE 2021”.
Working alongside North Lands Creative, GMTF 2021 will see an agile programme of both physical and online events taking place internationally throughout the year alongside project partners Toyama Institute of Glass Art with Toyama Glass Art Museum in
Japan and new project partners the Museum of Arts and Design, New York.
The Festival is dedicated to presenting a selection of new films pivoting around the medium of glass. The festival will showcase a cross section of international diverse and engaging series of short films curated and directed by female identified and non-binary and filmmakers using glass as the predominant feature . Telling the stories of how art is made, how artists survive, how they think and work, and what makes creativity our most important skill.
In addition, through the continued expansion and development of GMTF 2021 Festival, North Lands Creative has created six commission opportunities for the creation of new festival-responsive work and associated programming. Over the coming months, the artist commissions will research new ways of engaging with the materiality of glass in the digital era. These contributions will form part of the core schedule with festival artist commissions, films, publication and podcast.
“We regard the festival as a microcosm to explore our relationship to and with glass and film. This includes the physical and environmental context, together with the human and social context.” Karen Phillips, Director, North Lands Creative
“MAD is thrilled to partner with North Lands Creative and Toyama Institute of Glass Art on Glass, Meet the Future Film Festival.” Samantha De Tillio, Curator of Collections at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York.
“Movement, physicality, and a type of musclememory choreography are inherent to the glass-making process resulting in an increased commingling of glass and performance over the last decade. It’s this amalgamation of material and ephemeral, glass and video, at the heart of the film festival, which is so exciting.”
This energising project supported through British Council Scotland and Creative Scotland as part of the UK in Japan. The British Council will lead on cultural activities in Japan, bringing in work from across the UK in collaboration with a range of partners. At the same time the Japanese government will lead on reciprocal activity in the UK.
“The British Council/ Creative Scotland Partnership is delighted to see the Glass, Meet the Future Film Festival come to life, as part of North Lands Creative project with Japanese partners Toyama Institute of Glass Art and US partners the Museum of Arts and Design, New York. In a time when creative sectors across the world are enduring enormous challenges and are reimagining their work within a very different world, this digital festival spotlighting glass artists’ intersection, does exactly that. The initiative also demonstrates that the strength and vitality of Scotland’s creative links with their International counterparts remains very much alive, giving us much hope for what’s to
come when we come out of the current pandemic context.”
The GMTF 2021 film festival takes place over a sixteen-day period showcasing a new cross section of international diverse and engaging series of short films curated and directed by female identified, non-binary artists using glass as the predominant feature.
Film screenings and commissions will air on a daily schedule. The new commissions will form a core programme of the festival with artists also contributing to the festival publication (digital) and podcast.
The festival launches on the 20 March running through out 2021 with a scheduled programme running across the international partners with a hybrid approach of physical and virtual presentation. The full programme will launch 12 March 2021.
“We have spent a great deal of time curating programmes that reflect the diverse interests of our audiences,” Karen Phillips, Director of North Lands Creative.
“This project emphasises identity, community, and the variety in the cross disciplinary approach emerging from the field of international contemporary glass. Adding a new strand with our online festival has made the experience far more powerful. The relationships with
Toyama Institute of Glass Art and the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, have given North Lands Creative a starting point for conversations with the wider International glass community and audiences and has inspired far deeper and more fruitful conversations.”
Jin Hongo, Head Professor, Toyama Institute of Glass Art “We are very pleased to collaborate with North Lands Creative on the special project, Glass, Meet the Future. Glass is not only a traditional craft material steeped in rich history, but is also a continually evolving, cutting edge medium for contemporary artistic expression. In recent years, applications of glass as an expressive medium have diversified concurrently with the development of technologies and new materials. Collaborations with other fields of research and cross-platform applications within the art are expected. Glass, Meet the Future recognizes this trajectory and signals the coming era of diverse new creations
and creators.”
The British Council Scotland and Creative Scotland partnership is a longstanding agreement between the organizations to develop international relationships in order to ensure Scotland’s creativity is recognised internationally. Considering the world situation, we are very proud to be screening many powerful and never-before-seen films with glass artists and filmmakers from around the world. The
Festival is dedicated to presenting a selection of new films pivoting around the medium of glass and to highlight the global glass community during this unprecedented time.
The Open Call for Applications is live until the 29 January 2021. Further information
can be found online here.
