Matteo Gonet
Master glassmaker
Munchenstein

« Blowing glass is like playing a musical instrument. It is necessary to practice regularly so as not to lose the correctness of the gestures. »

Matteo Gonet discovered working with glass at a very young age by chance from a television report. Immediately seduced by the incandescences of the oven and the molten material, he trained in Germany before traveling through Europe to perfect his know-how. Back in Switzerland, he moved into an old factory near Basel. In 2019, he won the Swiss Master Craftsman Prize.

« I wanted to learn a trade with a history, to be instructed by a master. I needed a daily discipline that involves my whole body. »

In 2004, Matteo Gonet founded Glassworks, a place of experimentation and production where pieces are produced in blown, cast and thermoformed glass. With the help of permanently rotating melting furnaces, he carries out tailor-made orders for Swiss and international customers. The workshop now employs about ten people.

Training

2001, Bachelor of Arts, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands

1998, European Center for Research and Training in Glass Arts (CERFAV), Nancy, France

1996, Glasfachschule (glass technical school), Zwiesel, Germany

Honors

2019, Master Craftsman Prize, Swiss Art Crafts

2006, First prize, New Design Bern, Switzerland

2005, Emerging Artist, 35th Glass Art Society (GAS), Adelaide, Australia

1998-2001, Scholarship, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Connections

https://www.pme.ch/afterwork/2020/03/23/matteo-gonet-une-vie-verre

https://www.letemps.ch/culture/matteo-gonet-reveur-verre

https://www.24heure.ch/culture/arts-visuels/matteo-gonet-ensorcelle-verre/story/22706720

http://www.projekt-handwerk.ch/en/handwerke/der-glasmacher/