The exhibition will weave historical aspects from the beginnings of glass and its uses in our region – starting with glass beads used as currency in extensive continental trade routes, examples from the first furnaces producing glass in Woodstock, Cape Town, leading to the origins of torchbearers in our local hand-made glass industry such as Ngwenya Glass from Eswatini and the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Department of Fine and Studio Arts, Glass Art & Design programme.
The main focus will be an exhibition of contemporary glass works by current trailblazers who have and still are shaping the Southern African creative glass industry.
They include TUT staff members Caitlin Greenberg and part-time lecturer Martli Jansen van Rensburg, and alumni TUT glass students Nicole Rowe, Lothar Böttcher, Mike Hyam, Marileen van Wyk, Stephen Mofokeng, Kgotso Pati, and former TUT lecturer, Retief van Wyk.
Fired Up! will be complemented with a conference day on 1 October. Several artists, academics, and industry speakers will present thoughts and discussions around the theme Glass and its Future in an African Context.
Please follow the proceedings on Instagram @southern_african_glass or email iyog2022.southafrica@gmail.com for more info.