In our Cities series :
In Venice, in late  19th century, there were still some 5,000 impiraresse: i.e. stringers of tiny glass beads.
It was a low-paid, mainly female, sideline. Impiraresse were found in all age groups, from little girls to elderly women.
Yet the art of glass beading has been listed as an “intangible heritage of humanity” by Unesco since 2020, and recalls this episode in the history of Venice.
Nowadays, this work is carried out mechanically in Eastern Europe and Asia. In Venice, only a handful of impiraresse, who also create jewelry, remain.