Anne Vanlatum, born in Bruges (Belgium), graduated in art history from the University of Ghent before continuing her studies in Paris. Her passion for glass prompted her to undertake several internships in Parisian galleries, enabling her to specialize in contemporary glass art. In 1991, she joined the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. In 1997, she became director of the MusVerre in Sars-Poteries, succeeding the founder Louis Mériaux. She devoted herself to its development, with the construction of the new studio (2001), followed by the new museum (2016). Since 2024, she has been a consultant and expert in contemporary glass.

In the last decades I worked in all sorts of hot-shops, varying from working with the Bohemian glass-masters in Ajeto glass studio and their refined glass, to Kenya, where we re-used broken window glass and bottles. Other places I have worked include Jenaer glass, Laucha, Leerdam Kristal, Egypt, Japan, and many more. All these places have their own qualities, specialties, available sources and local circumstances. I use the local skills, expertise and materials to realize my ideas. I have a hands-on mentality. I do tests and make prototypes and learn what could be chanced and what has to be retained. I formulate the answer to my own questions and allow myself to be led by an irrepressible curiosity about the possibilities of a material or technique.

Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk is head of the glass collection at the Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf, Germany. After receiving his doctorate in Berlin, he worked at the Bröhan-Museum in Berlin. From 2004 until 2008, he was curator of European glass at The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York. He curated the shows “Glass of the Alchemists” in Corning and “Art and Alchemy – the Mystery of Transformation” in Dusseldorf. Here, Dedo is also in charge of the Jutta Cuny-Franz Memorial Award that is granted to artists every two years.

Milan Hlaveš is a Czech art theorist. He deals with modern and contemporary glass and ceramics, including porcelain. He has worked in several important Czech museums (Museum of Decorative Arts 1998–2020, currently at the Prague City Museum). He has been cooperating professionally with the organizers of the Stanislav Libenský Award since the first year of the competition (2009).