Ernests Vītiņš’s Nefertiti exhibited at GLASSTRESS 2026 in Venice
The environmental object Nefertiti by Latvian glass artist Ernests Vītiņš has been selected for GLASSTRESS 2026, the prestigious international exhibition organised by Berengo Studio in Venice.
The work was first presented in 2025 at the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design (MDAD) in Riga as part of the major Baltic contemporary glass art exhibition Layers, which brought together 24 professional artists from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The exhibition received significant public attention and recognition from experts, while Ernests Vītiņš’s Nefertiti (2025) won the Visitors’ Choice Award as the exhibition’s best work.
With the support of the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia (VKKF), the exhibition catalogue Layers was published in the spring of 2026 and distributed to leading glass art museums and institutions around the world. On 7 April 2026, MDAD received a letter from Mariapaola Spinelli, curator at Berengo Studio (Murano, Italy), requesting the contact details of Ernests Vītiņš. This was followed by a telephone conversation and an intensive exchange of emails. Thanks to a State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia creative grant, Ernests Vītiņš was able to travel to Venice to install his glass sculpture.
The Latvian National Museum of Art is proud that the curators of this internationally renowned glass art institution recognised the work of Ernests Vītiņš and invited him to participate in the ambitious GLASSTRESS 2026 project alongside some of the world’s most celebrated contemporary artists, including Marina Abramović, Ai Weiwei, Tony Cragg, Jan Fabre, Sean Scully, Erwin Wurm, and many others. This invitation is a testament to the high professional standard of Latvian art and design and represents a unique opportunity for Ernests Vītiņš – a significant milestone in his artistic career, opening the way to potential collaboration with Berengo Studio, participation in artist residencies, and future international exhibitions.
GLASSTRESS 2026 exhibition, held at Palazzo Ca’ Tron and Fondazione Berengo Art Space in Venice, officially opened on 12 July and will remain on view until 22 November. Ernests Vītiņš’s glass sculpture Nefertiti occupies one of the exhibition's central locations and has already attracted international attention, being featured in several important publications, including Living Corriere (Corriere della Sera / RCS MediaGroup) and Corriere del Veneto.
Adriano Berengo, founder of the internationally acclaimed GLASSTRESS exhibition series (established in 2009), whose initiative has encouraged some of the world’s leading contemporary artists to realize their most ambitious ideas in glass, and President of Berengo Studio, describes Ernests Vītiņš’s work as follows: “I was drawn to Ernest’s work because he takes such an ambitious approach to glass as a sculptural medium. In this young artist, I saw a desire to challenge preconceptions about glass, and that really captivated me. I am delighted that we managed to bring his sculpture to Venice and exhibit it in the courtyard of Ca’ Tron. Nefertiti challenges traditional perceptions of glass, demonstrating its durability, monumentality and ability to create a powerful dialogue between art, nature and public space. I am delighted with the success of our collaboration and hope that this is certainly not the last time that Ernests and I will work together to promote the limitless possibilities of glass as a creative material.”
Text by Inese Baranovska
