一個威尼斯人，更是一個工藝人

A Venetian, an Artisan

在23歲那年，即正式擁有「大師」稱號的Lino並不以此為自滿，他在技術與設計之間，不斷學習、創新。但此時威尼斯玻璃也正在衰弱。愈來愈少人願意待在炙熱高溫的窯爐前，辛苦的學習和工作。整個小島上曾經燃燒旺盛的窯爐，正一個一個在熄滅。而海洋的彼端，美國玻璃工作室運動才剛興起。充滿熱情但缺少技術的美國，與擁有技術但失去活力的威尼斯，同時出現在Lino眼前。美國熱情的向他招手，但他也知道保守排外的威尼斯人，並不會樂於接受他的作為。

Lino Tagliapietra earned the rank of “maestro” at 23 but it do not stop him from learning or challenging himself. During this period the Venetian glass industry was going downhill. To find someone willing to labor in front of a punishing fire was a rarity; the once prolific fires scattered throughout the island went out one by one. On the other side of the ocean, American Studio Glass was just getting started.

American artists – passionate but lacking technical knowledge and their Venetian counterparts – technically advanced yet creatively stalled, appeared before Tagliapietra simultaneously. The Americans beckoned to him yet he knew how protective his homeland was of their glassworking secrets.

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我們該慶幸的是，當時的威尼斯，已經廢除對玻璃吹製者控管的死刑條文，但並不代表LINO前往美國的舉動，沒有受到任何輿論的苛責。

1979在LINO去美國教書時，他的同行告訴他：「你做什麼是你的事，但不要教太多，因為你所學到的並不只是你的，它是傳統的一部分，而你把它交給大家是不對的。」

LINO的回答是：「我認為我們學到的一切都是來自某個地方或其他人，但知識不屬於任何人。沒有人給Murano帶來技術，而是玻璃吹製者們推動自己做一些不同的事情，共同努力發展的技能。我喜歡美國是因為那裡的人們分享一切。他們希望每個人都擁有所有的信息。」

It is our luck that Venice had long abolished the death sentence upon anyone who revealed the secrets of Venetian glassblowing to outsiders but it did not mean that Tagliapietra did not receive criticism for travelling to the US to teach.

Fellow Venetian glassworkers condemned his choice, “What you do is your business but don’t reveal too much because what you know does not belong to you, it is part of our tradition and spreading it to others is wrong.”

He responded: All our knowledge comes from someone or somewhere; knowledge does not belong to any one person or entity. No one brought technical know-how to Murano, it was developed as glassblowers worked together and pushed each other to try new and different things. I like America because the Americans believe knowledge is to be shared.

Lino Teaching at Pilchuck

無論在東西方，人類文明或工藝技法的失傳，往往來自師徒制或不外傳等傳統的囹圄，在技法上吝於交流，時間久了，沒有任何文獻留下，逐漸失傳。這是全人類的損失。在時代的交叉路口，世界給了Lino一個選擇的機會。從小我的民族觀點裡跳脫，敢以更宏觀的世界歷史角度，意識文化與藝術傳承的重要性。這是一個自10歲起，生命裡只有玻璃與工藝的靈魂，依著本能最後所做的選擇。

When a tradition is not shared, it is lost. And then it becomes a loss for all humankind. At the intersection between the past and future, Tagliapietra was given a choice. How does one extract oneself from a national view and embrace a worldview from a historical perspective? How does one become aware of a global cultural and artistic inheritance? For someone whose soul has been imbued with glass since he was 10 years old, this would be the choice that would affirm his legacy.