Lena the glassblower: Sweden

[Music] for [Music] my name is Lena sber I'm 17 years old and I'm learning the ancient craft of glass blowing from my teacher Henry Carlson who's a master Craftsman we live in an area of Sweden known as the kingdom of glass Sweden is in the north of Europe and it's one of the Scandinavian countries I come from Stockholm the capital but now I live and work in or forch a beautiful town in the South I love working with glass the texture the quality the way it catches and reflects light and I've just started learning to make crystal vases and stem wear our Factory is the Ora forche Glassworks and it's world famous for its fine Swedish [Music] Crystal we work from 6:00 in the morning to 3:00 in the afternoon glass making is very difficult almost like playing a musical instrument it demands excellent breath control to blow the glass and careful coordination of the hands to shape it at this stage the glass is about 1,000° Centigrade I really enjoy the challenge of this work the only problem is my parents they don't think this is right for me and keep wanting me to come home and go to university glass blowing is actually hundreds of years old Aurora for glassw Works was founded in 1898 later when two artists added beautiful Engravings on the glass the concept of crystalware was revolutionized and when we won all the gold medals at the 1925 Worlds Fair swe leish glass really became famous our Master Craftsman create visual poetry with sand fire and a few simple tools I don't think my parents realize how proud I am to be part of such a creative tradition especially now that women have only just started working in the glass factories my ambition is to become one of the first first women Glass Masters in [Music] Sweden Mr Carlson says the key to becoming a master glass blower is knowing the nature and texture of glass itself which takes years of experience he says I must instantly roll and spin the glass to keep it from sagging out of shape and to work it quickly before it cools and becomes brittle this weekend I've decided I'm going home to try to convince my parents to let me stay on here [Music] oh [Music] for [Music] h [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] [Music] our family has always been very close and I know they just want the best for me absolute [Music] my parents insist that I stay here and I'm really confused [Music] la [Music] spe [Applause] [Music] my best friend Eva and I share a small apartment near the factory the great thing about living with her is she's as interested in glass as I am we began our apprenticeship together and now joke about which of us will become a master [Music] first going uhhuh [Music] can he come on hate not it's my parents they want me to come back and register for University which starts next week I've convinced them at least to come and see your for and to see why staying here is so important to me for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] get out l [Music] my father is amaz the glasses just a mixture of fine sand and simple chemicals they appear quite [Music] [Applause] [Music] interested they seem to be enjoying their are impressed with the skill and Artistry of our work and they're even surprised our Factory has its own soccer team and Brass Band [Music] a [Applause] [Music] although we sell our glass all over the world one of our biggest Outlets is right here where visitors can buy some of our finest Creations worth hundreds or even thousands of doll [Music] [Music] [Music] I'm very surprised and disappointed even though they say they now appreciate my work they still want me to come back home to study my mother and father never had the opportunity of going to University and they want me to get the education they were denied I know they want the best life for me but they just don't seem to understand that I'm happi as making [Music] glass for spee speech speech foreign fore for Fore [Music] [Applause] [Music] n [Music] [Music] I feel very sad about what happened but even though my parents don't understand my decision to stay all I can do is hope that one day they will [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] w w [Music] [Applause] w [Music] hello fore we're very fortunate only the warehouse has been destroyed the rest of the factory was miraculously saved but a lot of beautiful glass was damaged in the fire and we all have to get right back to work to catch up [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey [Music] M yeah now [Music] [Music] only [Music] forch fore [Music] speech [Music] fore [Music] for luckily the burn isn't a bad [Music] one now my father is worried about my safety here I've got to tell them exactly what I want to do [Music] but my mother says they actually came back to say I could stay if it means that much to me okay the all