Press newsletter, 6th November 2018, Poznań

 

 

Those who are eager for unusual design based on glass and stone will not be disappointed with the Glass and Stone Fair. Each year, these spectacular exhibitions are visited by over 5 000 people from across the world. The circle of visitors include not only the professionals searching for new solutions, but also people interested in the beauty of a natural stone and incredibly plastic glass. Inspiring meetings with recognized artists and architects, exceptional shows and lectures await the guests of the events. 

 

 

For centuries, harmonious cooperation of the stone and architectural industry has been the basis of design. However in the recent years it has become more and more visible that the needs of professionals from these industries intermingle in the business reality. This observation gave rise to a new direction of development of the stone industry fair STONE which is held each year at the premises of Poznań International Fair.

 

From the very outset, stone industry fair STONE has been addressed to everyone, for whom stone constitutes the basis or part of an economic activity – stonemasons and representatives of the construction industry, architects and designers. However starting from this year’s edition – held on 14-17th November – greater emphasis will be put on a coherent cooperation of the stone and architectural industry.

 

- Many outstanding architectural projects would not have been created if it wasn’t for the cooperation of the stone industry with design offices – says Robert Mieldziuk, Project Director. – Elements constructed from natural stone have forever constituted an incredibly significant, sometimes even the most important part of magnificent architecture. The use of stone in a design makes it become timeless. By realizing this year’s edition of STONE fair we would like to emphasize the relevance of cooperation of the stone and architectural industry and allow for establishment of closer business relations between their representatives. 

 

This was the aim of the organizers of STONE fair during preparation of the programme of events. Even though its final version is still underway, it is already clear that the meeting of the professionals from stone and architecture industry will be its most significant part. One of the key events held at the fair will be Arena STONE - a platform dedicated to professionals from the stone industry, architects, designers and owners of design offices. On the occasion of this year’s edition of STONE fair, the platform will be held for the first time, ultimately however it is to become an integral part of the fair, content related, inspiring and presenting innovative solutions with stone and glass. Its programme will include lectures of the experts of the industry and presentations of works of the world-famous and renowned designers who use natural stone in their projects.

 

Arena STONE will begin with the performance of an eminent Italian designer, Raffaello Galiotto. The topic of his presentation is “MARMO 4.0. Experiments in natural stone”. It will consist of a review of innovative works from marble created by Galiotto with the use of the most cutting-edge numerically controlled machinery. 

 

The second performance entitled “A journey through the colours. 45 years of life with mosaic”  will be presented by Giulio Menossi, a world-famous author of mosaic  from Italy. His presentation will be a review of his creative activity including incredibly diverse mosaic compositions which present a wide range of topics– from religious icons, portraits to reproductions of classical works of art. Numerous exhibitions and expositions, both individual and collective, were devoted to his works, among others such as International Review of Mosaic in Buenos Aires. At Arena STONE we will have the unique opportunity to see them here in Poland.

 

After the inspiring meeting with Giulio Menossi, there will be a lecture of a German editor-in-chief of an industry-related website www.stone-ideas.com,  Peter Becker, who will shed a slightly different light on the topics discussed during the first day of Arena STONE. In his lecture “New ideas in architecture using natural stone”  he will make an essential review of the latest and the most interesting projects created using stone in the world architecture.

 

The last event of the first day of Arena STONE will be the lecture of Lubosz Karwat “Artistic mosaic as a practical form of decoration”. The artist runs cyclical mosaic workshops in Cracow, Poznań, Warsaw and Toruń. He has received many awards and won a number of competitions related to mosaic creation. In 2015 he took the first place in the prestigious International Mosaic Competition Gaziantep in Turkey (International Gaziantep Mosaic Competition) in category “mosaic from natural stone”. 

 

On the second day of Arena STONE will be held discussion panels participated by Polish and international designers from designer offices which perform one of the most famous constructions in Poland. The organizers promise that they will provide their last names soon. Third day will be dedicated to the wide range of applications which glass has in architecture, construction and interior design.

 

Moreover the visitors who will come to STONE fair in Poznań, will find here some inspiring expositions from natural stone, specialist cutting and processing tools as well as products for cleaning and conservation of stone surfaces. They will also have an opportunity to watch the exposition of works prepared during the next edition of International Symposium of Sculpture in Stone “Continuum”. This year the exposition will be even bigger than last year.

 

 

The leaders and the biggest “players” of the market meet at Glass fair to establish business relations, familiarize themselves with new products and ideas and learn about the latest trends. Education and ecology also constitute a very important aspect of this event. The fair is the only exhibition of the glass industry in Poland.

 

For the exhibitors, Glass fair is the opportunity to present the machinery, devices and accessories for processing of flat glass. At the event they will also be able to see the latest applications of glass in construction and architecture. The visitors however can participate in unusual shows of glass decorating techniques and interactive workshops.  

 

- We have been observing the permanent development of the glass industry in Poland for a longer period of time, which is reflected by Glass fair. Currently the glass industry is one of the profitable areas of business. Its profitability has for a few years been at the fixed level of 8,7 %. New trends in architecture and construction also show the wide range of possibilities for using glass. This material is not only ecological, but also plastic and allowing for obtaining exceptional designer effects– says Mateusz Szymczak, director of Glass fair.

 

One of the most spectacular events of Glass fair will be shows of glass decoration. They will constitute a unique opportunity for watching the whole process of creation of glass products live, starting from melting of raw glass in a blast furnace, through its initial forming, thermoforming to decoration via fusing technology. In a specially arranged zone one will also be able to watch professional sandblasting or spray painting. A real treat will also be the scheduled shows of creating spatial and resinous stained glass and interactive workshops. The spectators will have the chance to handmake e.g. a glass pieces of jewellery. 

 

The fair is also accompanied by a remarkable exhibition of works awarded in the contest EduPak Polska which propagates the knowledge about recycling of glass among nursery-school children and primary school and high school students. The 2nd edition of EduPak Polska is addressed to the children and the youth from Wielkopolska. In this year’s edition participate both the students from Wielkopolska upper primary and primary schools (divided into two groups: classes 1-4 and 5-8) as well as nursery-school children. Each of the above mentioned groups received a different contest tasks, adjusted to age of the participants. – The objective of the contest itself is only to serve as a pretext for activities promoting pro-ecological actions. We want to change the attitudes and habits of the children and the youth and reward the efforts made with awards which their laureates will choose themselves” – informs Barbara Maciałczyk from Friends of Glass Polska, organizer of the contest.

Most of all however, Glass fair is the meeting of the representatives of business and opportunity to establish significant partner relations. Each year the fair is participated by the leaders of the industry who present their products and state-of-the-art solutions. Among the leading companies present at Glass fair will be CDA POLSKA, GLASS – SERWIS, GLASSLIFT, MEKANIKA, MC DIAM. 

At the invitation of the Polish Investment & Trade Agency and Poznań International Fair, 2018 Glass and Stone Fair will be attended by an international circle of entrepreneurs and journalists. This is an important point of the implemented economic strategy. It will be participated by the entrepreneurs with the necessary potential for establishing trade relations representing the markets of Kazakhstan, Russia, Iran, Ukraine, UAE, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

 

The previous edition of Glass fair and concurrently held Stone fair was visited by over 5 000 professionals from across the world.

GLASS and STONE fair will be held in Poznań on 14-17th November 2018. 

 

For more information please go to www.glass.mtp.pl, www.stone.mtp.pl

 

 

Contacts for the media:

 

Glass Fair

Ewa Gosiewska

ewa.gosiewska@mtp.pl 

phone +48 539 777 553

 

 

Stone Fair

Joanna Janowicz

joanna.janowicz@mtp.pl

phone +48 691 030 372