Big News for Glass Art in Africa!
After a long time of talking about the need for an organisation to bring creative glass in Africa into the spotlight I would like to introduce to you Moya African Glass Network (MAGN).
MAGN, or Moya as we like to say, was established as a Non-Profit Company to support and grow glass art in Africa. It’s our first anniversary and we have big news for glass art in Africa to share with you.
History
The origins of MAGN can be traced back to the early 2000s, when the South African Glass Art Society (SAGAS) was formed. SAGAS was initiated by Dr. Ingram Anderson (an avid art lover and glass collector) in collaboration with several glass artists and educators. This initiative on community-building brought a broad spectrum of makers together across the country.
Numerous exhibitions and festivals were held to promote our industry. In 2004, we showcased works from across the country at the Gordart Gallery in Melville, Johannesburg. The following year Lorna Reade organised a magnificent multi-day event with exhibitions in Worcester, Cape Town and Stellenbosch. Students from Tshwane University of Technology even drove down from Pretoria to join in on the festivities.
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- Dr. Ingram Anderson
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- SAGAS logo
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- Students from TUT at the 2025 SAGAS Glass Festival in the Cape
TUT & Pretoria
The Department of Fine and Applied Arts’ Glass Department, at the Tshwane University of Technology, can be considered the wellspring of contemporary glass art in Southern Africa. It is the only tertiary institution offering creative glass as a degree program in sub-Saharan Africa.
I graduated from this program in 1997, and after 30 years, it’s stronger than ever under the leadership of Caitlin Greenberg. Opportunities for graduates are growing within new networks across the globe.
Projects like Blow Your Sculpture also helped establish glass in the broader art community, with several iterations over the years. Exhibitions of the works were shown at the Pretoria Art Museum, allowing a large public understanding of what glass can be — an expressive medium filled with so much potential.
Is Pretoria the heart of glass art in South Africa? I think so. TUT is the only tertiary institution offering glass as a creative medium in Sub-Saharan Africa (I am myself a graduate, as are so many others in our community.) We have been at the forefront to bring glass into the spotlight, and so many fine art exhibitions now feature glass as a medium.
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- The first furnace at TUT (1995)
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- Back in 1995. That's me in the dungarees.
International Year of Glass 2022
The United Nations launched the International Year of Glass in 2022. Planning already kicked off the year before, bringing glass in all its iterations into the global spotlight. Industry leaders, from manufacturers and the building industry, to art and museums were encouraged to host events promoting glass.
South Africa also played a role with a major showcase of our creative glass.
The exhibition Fired Up! – Celebrating Southern African Glass Art exhibited a myriad of creative interpretations at the Pretoria Art Museum from the 3rd of September until 30 October 2022.
Thanks to the Origins Centre at Wits University, historical glass artefacts were also woven into this seminal exhibition, showcasing examples from the beginnings of glass and its uses in our region.
The opening was complemented with live glassmaking demos and conversations.
Public lectures were hosted during this time at the Tshwane University of Technology’s Glass Department, with several speakers, ranging from artists, academics and industry professionals, sharing insights on “Glass and its future in an African context”.
The lectures can be viewed here.
Glass Safari 2024
After the resounding success of the International Year of Glass events, our glass community started talking of how to keep the fires burning.
I mentioned the idea of a “Glass Safari” at the 2016 Glass Art Society conference in Corning to build bridges and connect South Africa to the global glass community. This idea kept on popping up in conversations over the years.
In 2024, the dream came true. Caitlin Greenberg (head of the Glass Department at TUT) took the lead and lit the fires to host our first Glass Safari.
Ngwenya Glass in Eswatini and Smelt Glass Studio also came onboard. Events focussing on skills transfer and community were organised in a jam-packed two and a half weeks.
Several international artists came to participate and share their knowledge with students and local artists. The energy was intense and tangible as everyone was working fervently, sharing concepts, skills, and cultures.
In these conversations, the idea of an organisation took hold. By February 2025 we established Moya African Glass Network, a non-profit company to harness our potential and foster a culture of community for African hand-made glass.
After several decades of instigating community driven projects focussing on glass as a creative medium I’m delighted to say that we’ve done it!
These two and a half weeks were overflowing with so much positive energy. Students just didn’t stop working, asking questions and pushing the limits. The international team of artists were overwhelmed with this eagerness to absorb new ways of looking at the material. I am sure many fantastic stories are still being told about their experience here in South Africa.
The Glass Safari is our flagship event. So much work went into making it a reality. My heart was beaming with pride that we at last expanded our glass culture a little further across the globe.
Moya African Glass Network is an organisation aiming to MAGNify our local glass art community.
Moya African Glass Network was founded with a clear purpose:
to build and sustain a creative glass community across the continent. At its core, MAGN exists to promote glass art education, encourage sustainable practices, and foster the kind of resource sharing that only happens when people genuinely trust each other.
Our long-term ambition is bigger — to establish South Africa, and Africa, as a recognised global glass destination. To get there, MAGN actively pursues funding to support the development of handmade glass and the growth of the network and industry itself.
Glass Now – African Perspectives
Moya African Glass Network (MAGN) officially launched with an exhibition titled Glass Now – African Perspectives in July of 2025.
Works by twenty-seven artists from across South Africa, Eswatini, and Kenya were shown at the Association of Arts, in Pretoria. The exhibition was complemented with live demonstrations by my fledgling project Full Circle Glass Co., repurposing discarded glass (wine bottles…) by shaping and blowing using a small glory hole and kiln.
The diversity of work and expressions, in its multitude of colours, hues and shapes, kindled the flame of dialogue and community.
We hosted two openings at the Association of Arts. The first was for the main exhibition, Glass Now. The gallery was bubbling with visitors, and so many new faces were present. One of the drawing cards was the live demonstration at the glory hole, and this is something we would love to keep.
The second opening was a Pop-Up exhibition of smaller, affordable works complementing the main exhibition. We had glass jewellery, hand-blown cups, vases and paperweights, as well as some flame-worked items. …and don’t forget the live demos hot shaping cups at the glory hole.
Glass Safari 2026
Glass Safari 2026
This year’s Glass Safari promises to be a big one. Building on our momentum, we have a full program lined up during July with several workshops involving students from TUT, local designers and artists, and international guests.
The Glass Safari kicks off at Smelt Glass Studio with renowned South African glassmaker David Reade, who will collaborate with local artists and designers.
Then, it’s off to Ngwenya Glass in Eswatini for an intense creative session on the factory floor collaborating with our international guests, and working with the skilled factory teams in front of their newly built furnace. Ngwenya Glass is famed for their use of 100% recycled glass, and this workshop offers a challenge to realise concepts with local designers and artists. The aim of this workshop is to develop new product ranges and strengthen sustainable glass practices.
The last week will be spent at the Tshwane University of Technology’s Glass Studio. Our international guests are encouraged to work in teams with the students, sharing their skills, and the fundamentals of team work. Several public talks and presentations are planned during this time to complement the sharing of knowledge and understanding of the global creative glass industry.
The Glass Safari concludes with an exhibition at the Association of Arts in Pretoria, opening on Saturday the 25th of July. Collectors and art lovers have the opportunity to acquire unique works from our international guests and local artists. A percentage of the sales is dedicated to support MAGN’s objectives.
If you’d like to attend, acquire work, or get involved with MAGN, visit moyaglass.africa or or send us a mail to hello@moyaglass.africa.
We would love to see you at this year’s event, and please don’t hesitate to reach out to us regarding questions, resources, network and even classes.
Let the fires burn bright for glass on our continent!
