It was with some trepidation that I visited the Shanghai Museum of Glass, located in the Baoshan industrial area of Shanghai, far from all the other places one frequents in that city in search of art and culture. It had been highly recommended by a friend.

Set up by the Shanghai Glass Company Ltd, the Museum of Glass is a state-of-the-art museum, something not to be missed. Here you will find fabulous historical as well as contemporary glass art works, from China and the West. It is indeed commendable that the company has preserved and recorded 100 years of glass history and culture and the museum is anything but a hot and stuffy glass factory. Instead, it has been designed as an attractive building with beautiful and interesting spaces for exciting artistic creations.

Glass has unlimited possibilities, for functional objects as well as for artistic expression. Tempered for thousands of years, crude lava evolved into transparent glass. From ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to China and the Far East, from the simplest of craftsmanship to an artistic technique that transcends the imagination, glass continues to capture our attention. From glass sheets and glassware to experimental glass and pure sculpture, the displays at the Shanghai Museum of Glass are testimony to this.

The museum’s founding committee invited the German architectural team ‘Tilman Thuermer’ to design the museum. The designers came up with a unique concept of juxtaposing the past and present, integrating the building’s original structure, retaining some of its unique characteristics, but at the same time adding modern conveniences and functional elements. Moreover, they have utilised glass in all its manifestations: as structural element for stairs and floor, as cladding on the façade, as luminaries for lighting, besides more mundane applications for signage and for the display cabinets. They have succeeded in doing this with a flair that elicits amazement as well as a respectful smile.

The ancient Chinese people had developed their own glass-making techniques, which were quite different from those of the West. Decorations and jewellery have always been a part of human civilisation — from animal teeth and bones, to luxurious metals such as gold and silver, to jade and rare gemstones, all these materials have been used to add charm and grace to men and women alike. There was an exhibit called the Ancient Glass Ear Jewellery stressing the importance and splendour of the ear ornaments crafted from glass. There were spiritual connotations of culture and identity as well as of a lady’s status.

In ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology too eye totems symbolise divine power and justice, and dragonfly eye beads spread widely to the Mediterranean, African, European and Asian regions. Chinese craftsmen perfected the production techniques used to make dragonfly eye beads, and it became a matter of high honour to possess bronze, jade and lacquer wares decorated with dragonfly eye beads. An exhibition in the jewellery box section of the museum takes you on a 2,000 year journey of the making of the beads, the Marquis Sui Bead and the dragonfly eye glass ornaments.

Heritage and history of glass is one matter but the exhibit ‘Keep it Glassy’ was all about glass design. Several objects were on display in which designers had created with glass … a material which is solid and strong, dark and light, as well as fluid and fragile at the same time, therefore offering limitless possibilities for experimentation. It was fascinating to see how artists/designers had used glass to promote an idea.

A few exclusive pieces ‘Fusion’ by Dr Shelly Xue were also on display, which were designed by her from 2004 to 2013 (Ink, Snow, Vessel and Landscape Series). She is the first Chinese person to receive a doctoral degree in glass art from the UK and is a pioneer of the studio glass movement in China. Her innovative and well-crafted work is collected internationally.

The Shanghai Museum of Glass offers an artistic atmosphere throughout, including the Romantic Glass House, the Murano@shmog café, the New Concept Glass Gift Shop or in the peaceful library. It is a work in progress, as plans for a Glass Theme Park are also on the table, of which the m0useum is the core attraction and the first part of a larger complex. In future there will be a Glass Sculpture Yard, a Glass Studio, a Glass Science Park, and a Glass Business Centre. It is, and will continue to be a unique experience into the magical, mysterious world of glass!