Engraving Glass, Engraving Time in Venice with Matteo Seguso

A conversation on Murano craftsmanship, memory, and making by hand

In this new episode of Venice Talks, Monica Cesarato sits down with Matteo Seguso, Murano glass engraver, for a conversation that moves slowly, deliberately, and deeply into the world of glass worked by hand.

This is not an episode about objects. It is an episode about gestures. About time. About the quiet intelligence required to engrave a surface that does not forgive distraction. Glass, here, is not spectacle. It is resistance, discipline, and dialogue.

Inside the workshop

Glass engraving is often misunderstood. It is not about decoration added at the end of a process, but about entering into a relationship with a finished form and transforming it through patience and precision. In the workshop, the wheel turns, the hand adjusts, the eye listens. Every movement is final. There is no undo.

During the conversation, we talk about what it means to work in this way today, in a world that celebrates speed, replication, and immediacy. Engraving glass demands the opposite. It asks for slowness, repetition, and presence. It requires accepting limits, both of the material and of oneself.

This is where craftsmanship stops being romantic and becomes real.

Tradition without nostalgia

One of the central themes of the episode is tradition. Not tradition as something frozen in time, but tradition as practice. As something that exists only if it is exercised daily, questioned constantly, and carried forward with responsibility.

Murano is often described through its past, but this conversation focuses on its present. On the tension between heritage and personal voice. On how a centuries-old craft can remain alive without turning into performance or souvenir.

Tradition, here, is not preservation. It is work.

Hands, memory, and discipline

We speak about hands as instruments of memory. About how knowledge is stored not only in books or archives, but in muscles, gestures, and routines repeated over years. Glass engraving teaches humility. It teaches that mastery is never complete, that every piece is a negotiation, that attention is a form of respect.

There is also silence in this work. Silence that is not emptiness, but concentration. In the workshop, silence allows the material to speak. It allows mistakes to be avoided, but also accepted when they happen.

Craftsmanship, in this sense, becomes a form of listening.

Making today

A recurring question throughout the episode is what it means to make by hand today. Is craftsmanship still relevant? Is it sustainable? Is there space for it in a global, digital market?

The answer is not idealistic. It is pragmatic. Handmade work survives when it is honest, when it refuses shortcuts, and when it does not pretend to be something else. Craft does not compete with mass production. It offers an alternative logic, based on quality, time, and meaning.

Engraving glass today is not an act of resistance for the sake of it. It is a choice. One that carries responsibility, but also freedom.

Why this conversation matters

This episode of Venice Talks is a reminder that Venice is not only a backdrop, but a living system of knowledge, skills, and human stories. Murano glass engraving is part of that system. Fragile, demanding, and profoundly contemporary.

Talking about glass in this way is also talking about how we choose to live, work, and relate to the things we make and use. It is an invitation to slow down, to look closer, and to recognize the value of what is done well, not quickly.

Because some stories cannot be rushed.
And some materials, like glass, remember every touch.

If you enjoyed this conversation, I invite you to subscribe to Venice Talks, follow the podcast, and leave a comment. Tell me which month of Venice speaks to you most.

Venice changes every month.
Listening is how we keep up.