Raise Your Glasses

Courtesy of Guan Donghai

Guan Donghais glass sculpture Regime

In 1996, two academics from the school of Art & Design at the U.K.'s University of Wolverhampton went to China to forge links with educational institutions. While they were there, they fell into a discussion with Shanghai University Professor Wang Dawei about glass art — one of the key subjects offered at Wolverhampton. It quickly emerged that the subject was not taught at all in China's fine-art institutions, even though the country produced a staggering 80% of the world's processed glass. Wang resolved to do something about it, and in 2000 Shanghai University's glass studio was launched. It was...

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