Ivana Jirásek is a senior arts professional with specialist experience in contemporary studio glass and cultural fundraising.

GLASS

Born in the legendary Czech glass-making heartlands of Bohemia, Ivana is committed to celebrating the creative potential of glass and those who work with it . A rigorous curator and writer, she has been engaged in many diverse roles and projects since the 1990s, including:

CURATORIAL

• Curator of Diplomacy: Translations in Glass for Canberra Glassworks (2015)

• Development and implementation of exhibitions for Australian craft and design centres (1996-2002) 

• Development of exhibitions at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, including Transparent Things in partnership with the National Gallery of Australia, curator Geoffrey Edwards and The Thomas Foundation (2000-2002)

• Curator of 10 Australian Glass Artists exhibition for Gallery Enomoto, Osaka, a satellite event of the

  Glass Art Society conference in Seto, Japan (1998).

• Refer to my Curriculum Vitae for more details.

COLLECTIONS

Ivana catalogued the National Art Glass Collection at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery in 1995. She was also a student volunteer with the decorative arts curators at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum supporting collection administration.

ENGAGEMENT

• Board Director Ausglass - the Australian glass artists’ association (2022) and honorary roles (1990-2001)

• Judge of the Ranamok Glass Prize for Australian and New Zealand Contemporary Glass on six occasions during its 20 year span 1995 - 2014

• Presentation at the ICOM Glass Committee conference, Prague, Czech Republic (2002)

• Internship (1990) with the late Robert Bell AO, Curator of Decorative Arts at Art Gallery of Western Australia, assisting with the International Directions in Glass Art project: a feature of the 2nd Perth International Crafts Triennial (1991)

• Work at Glass Artists’ Gallery, Sydney (1989-1991)

• Work at Coleridge Gallery, London (1987-88) a private gallery specialising in British contemporary glass.

CRITICAL WRITING

Ivana has many published articles and reviews about artists working with glass, exhibitions, books and conferences for Craft Arts International, Glass Quarterly (US) magazine, Neues Glas (Germany) and Object (Australia).

For her Master of Art Administration degree she completed a research paper titled ‘Contexts for Contemporary Australian Glass: Strategies for public collections and curatorship’ (1997).

FUNDRAISING

Ivana works with artists, arts organisations, grant funders, individual philanthropists and philanthropic trusts and foundations to facilitate strategic giving. She has worked with:

• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney’s flagship public art museum

• Creative Australia (formerly Australia Council for the Arts and its entity Artsupport Australia)

• Canberra Glassworks

• Sydney Symphony Orchestra

• Australian Brandenburg Orchestra

• Culture at Work: an art/science research hub based in Pyrmont, Sydney

• Beyond Empathy - regional community arts supporting Aboriginal empowerment

• Sydney Festival

• Arts and Cultural Exchange - Western Sydney community arts (formerly Information and Cultural Exchange)

QUALIFICATIONS

Academic studies completed at University of New South Wales, Sydney include:

• Master of Art Administration

• Graduate Diploma in Gallery Management, and

• Bachelor of Science (Marine Geology major)

Click here to contact Ivana to discuss your next project

Kultura is Czech for ‘culture’.

Allied link: czlink

Banner photograph © Greg Piper.
Artists: Ben Edols and Kathy Elliott Emerge 2005, blown and engraved glass (detail).