Shattered Glass: Illuminating the Past

Abstract

Glass is a paradoxical material. It has enough strength to span the 10 metre wide very large telescopes and yet, as we all know, when dropped on a hard surface can shatter into hundreds of fragments. This exhibition sets up that dichotomy in its title Shattered glass – the fragility of the pieces is obvious, and yet these objects of the past are 2000+ years old, they have not disintegrated, many have not even weathered, this material has strength. The exhibition Shattered glass: Illuminating the Past presents a selection of glass from the Nicholson Museum collection. It enables 40 pieces of glass that had survived thousands of years to be appreciated for their beauty, fragility and quality. Many of the pieces have long languished in the storeroom of the museum. This exhibition brings to light an area of the collection of the Nicholson museum that was largely neglected in the museum’s permanent display.