Bottega has partnered with the municipality of Hiroshima to launch a charitable art project, called ‘Spirit of Peace’.
The initiative comes following Bottega Managing Director Sandro Bottega’s visit to the Hiroshima Peace Museum in 2015, on the 70th anniversary of the bombing. There, Bottega gave a one million Yen donation and a glass blown bottle containing a hand-made dove, the universal symbol of peace, to Kazumi Matsui – the city’s mayor. After the visit, Matsui offered Bottega the opportunity to exhibit artwork in three local museums.
The Spirit of Peace project will be exhibited from 25 November to 10 December 2017 in three prestigious sites: Hiroshima MOCA, Hiroshima Museum of Art and Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum. The three museums will showcase the historical collection of artistic blown glass bottles produced by Bottega and two majestic art pieces, designed by Sandro Bottega and crafted by master glassblower Pino Signoretto on the island of Murano. With these exhibitions, Bottega said it wishes to remember the horrific bomb strike and to raise awareness on peace.
To further enhance the reach of this project and raise more funds, Bottega has produced three dedicated products.
Explaining the symbolic reasons behind the project, Sandro Bottega said: “Grappa is an emblem of life (the original name ‘acqua di vita’ means ‘water of life’); blown glass represents transparency and depth of view; while wine represents the work of man and his sincerity. In addition, grappa and wine are two of the key products in Italian gastronomic culture, united in the name of brotherhood.”
Bottega will give these products to customers who endorse the initiative, and will invite them to donate directly to the Hiroshima municipality.