SCHOTT solutions no. 2/2011 > Glass Museum

After he had returned to China, the English University provided him with technical support in establishing a glass studio at Shanghai University’s Institute of Fine Art. Today, the institute receives a lot of recognition from the international artist scene. Thanks to his multi-cultural experiences, Zhuang Xiaowei has been able to introduce new approaches to the Chinese art of glass and secure an important role for glass as a material in Chinese art history. The experienced artist and teacher received an order from the Shanghai Glass Company to set up an interactive, interdisciplinary glass museum inside its old, shut down melting plant. The large factory buildings located in the north of the global metropolis that are literally surrounded by historic charm offer more than 5,000 square meters of exhibition space.

The story of the history of glass in both the Occident and Orient, but also the mutual influences of the different cultures during their history, is told inside the museum. This is all about the diversity and concurrency of glass, everything is repeated elsewhere and causes each other. This is the basic motif for the exhibit, symbolically displayed in the form of a kaleidoscope that is used inside the museum in many different ways: from a kaleidoscope room to an optical display of the exhibit of contemporary art.