Dark Days For Italy’s Historic Murano Glass Industry

  • Date: 24-Jul-2020
  • Source: Forbes
  • Sector:Industrial
  • Country:Oman
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Dark Days For Italy’s Historic Murano Glass Industry

Craftsmen pose by a kiln while blowing glass at the Nason and Moretti glass art products ... [+] manufacturer on May 18, 2020 in Murano during the country's lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus. - Restaurants and churches reopen in Italy on May 18, 2020 as part of a fresh wave of lockdown easing in Europe and the country's latest step in a cautious, gradual return to normality, allowing businesses and churches to reopen after a two-month lockdown. (Photo by ANDREA PATTARO / AFP) (Photo by ANDREA PATTARO/AFP via Getty Images)





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For the first time in decades, Murano's glass furnaces, which usually burn incessantly, all went cold. As COVID-19 spread throughout Italy, all non-essential businesses were forced to shutter for three months from March to May. Despite receiving a green light to resume production from the government in late May, many of Murano's historic furnaces have not been rekindled. 



"Turning off and on the kilns is an expensive and laborious process,“ explains glass artist Fabiano Amadi in the Ars Cenedese workshop. "Inside the kilns, there is a ceramic basin. Even when the furnace