Back to the Roots - A journey through the Fratelli Toso archive

This September, Casa Rosanna will once again take part in The Venice Glass Week.

This year, however, we have chosen to begin where our story begins.

The Fratelli Toso Archive.

More than a collection of documents, it preserves over 170 years of drawings, photographs, murrine samples, prototypes, catalogues, administrative records and working materials that document the history of the manufactory and its production. It is not simply a record of the past, but a living archive that continues to reveal new connections, new discoveries and new interpretations.

The publication of Fratelli Toso Murano 1902–1980 by Marc Heiremans and Caterina Toso in 2018 marked an important milestone in this journey. Since then, new archival material has returned to the collection, research has continued, and every new discovery has contributed to a deeper understanding of Fratelli Toso's history.

Back to the Roots grows directly from this ongoing work.

The project stems from a simple necessity: to return to the origin. Not as an act of nostalgia, but as an act of clarity.

The archive is presented not as a selection of individual documents, but as a connected structure through which the history of Fratelli Toso can be read. Drawings, photographs, objects, murrine samples, prototypes and personal documents are brought together, allowing the relationships between ideas, people, production and finished glassworks to emerge.

The collection itself is read through the archive. Objects regain their context. People regain their roles. Ideas regain their evolution.

Rather than waiting until September, we would like to share part of this journey with you.

From today, Notebook becomes our space for research in progress—a place to explore discoveries, archival stories and the thinking behind the exhibition as it takes shape.

This is only the beginning.

Welcome to Back to the Roots.