Glass: Transcending Matter

Founded in 1983 at the initiative of the French Ministry of Culture, the Centre International de Recherche sur le Verre et les Arts Plastiques (Cirva) is a creative utopia. Initially established with industrial ambitions, Cirva is a research laboratory dedicated to glass that sits at the crossroads of visual art, design, and craft.

Cirva welcomes artists from around the world—many of whom have never worked with glass. They come to engage with the expertise of technicians, chemists, and engineers, who help bring their visions to life. The resulting projects are both technically innovative and conceptually rich.

Since 1986, this singular institution has been housed in a former factory in Marseille’s Joliette district. Its central nave, ringed by a mezzanine, is animated by the mass of the furnaces, the vertical lines of ventilation shafts, and overhead lighting. From the very first glance, visitors sense that this is not just a place of work—but a space that is alive.

The exhibition Glass: Transcending Matter. The Cirva Collections offers an introduction to the research-based projects that bring a contemporary perspective to a material shaped by millennia of tradition. Thus, she creates a dialogue between design and visual arts through various themes, adopting a transdisciplinary approach.

Glass: Transcending Matter. The Cirva Collections is a thematic exhibition that explores the properties of glass through the eyes of artists and designers. It revisits the myths and fictions surrounding the origins of glass, delves into a physico-chemical understanding of the material, and highlights the drive among artists and designers to invent new ways of working with it in order to bring forth new forms.

Many visual artists are captivated by the way light travels through glass and alters perception, while others question the dissemination of objects and their interaction with the market. Glass can contain, preserve, and reveal, its many applications in the sciences fuel the imagination of artists. Some creators explore the hybrid nature of glass, between nature and artifice; others are drawn to its mysterious side, where alchemy meets wonder.

Exhibition organized by the Musée d’art moderne et contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole in partnership with the Centre international de recherche sur le verre et les arts plastiques (CIRVA).

CIRVA is a non-profit association recognized as being of public interest. Since its creation, it has been supported by the Ministère de la Culture / Direction régionale des affaires culturelles Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, the Ville de Marseille, the Conseil régional Sud Paca, and the Conseil départemental des Bouches-du-Rhône.