Unique Experience: Eight glassmakers from Biot will gather on Thursday, August 26, 2015, at the Pierini glassworks studio to collectively create a glass Pinocchio approximately 1.20 meters tall. They will present this collaboratively crafted piece to the municipality of Vernante, an Italian town twinned with Biot, which is the birthplace of Pinocchio, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the twinning celebration, to be held on Sunday, September 20, 2015, in Biot.
The glassmakers participating in the creation of the glass Pinocchio are: Ada Loumani, Antoine Pierini and his collaborator Nicolas Laty, Christophe Saba and his collaborator Emmanuel Rosell, Frédéric van Overschelde and his collaborator Hubert Dany. It is the first time that so many glassmakers from Biot have come together to create a joint piece. They have already met to plan their interventions. The glass Pinocchio will be made on August 26 in several parts, each created by a different glassmaker.
Vernante and Pinocchio: “It is one of the most well-known characters in children’s literature. In Italy, where he was born at the end of the 19th century, Pinocchio is the subject of true veneration. In particular in Vernante, a small town in the Piedmont region, where almost every house and monument in the city pays tribute to the little wooden puppet. In Vernante, a small town in Italian Piedmont, you cannot escape Pinocchio. The puppet, invented in 1883 by the writer Carlo Collodi, is at every street corner. Literally. Since 1989, the residents have been painting murals depicting the adventures of the most famous little liar. It all started with a trip to Bavaria by the former postman, Bruno Carletto, known as Carlet. Impressed by the painted facades of German houses, this amateur artist began to pay homage to the local star, illustrator Attilio Mussino. This native son was the first to give a face to Collodi’s character. The little round face crowned by a pointed hat, which was notably adopted by Walt Disney, is thanks to him. Today, there are 400 murals decorating most of the houses and monuments in Vernante. This curiosity has become a true tourist attraction. Visitors come from all over Italy, and also from nearby France (the village is located just a few dozen kilometers from the border) to admire these paintings that tell the misadventures of Pinocchio.”*
