Former diplomat lends new hues to revive glass art

AMMAN — Behind the extended glass windows of the Zujaj Collective’s workshop hang colourful stained glass panels inviting a myriad of colours into the room. 

The panels, among other glass artworks in the shop, were made by the founder of Zujaj, Scot Slessor, and a number of local artists who are joining efforts to revive glass art in Jordan.

According to Slessor, a retired Canadian diplomat and a self-taught glass artisan who has been practising the craft for the past 24 years, the glass art originates in Greater Syria, an area encompassing modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine.

Slessor had previously taught glass art in both Cambodia and Afghanistan. Since he is currently residing in Amman with his wife, the Canadian ambassador to Jordan, Slessor met with interested local artists to teach them the craft.

The Mohammad and Mahera Abu Ghazaleh Foundation for Art and Culture (MMAG) offered the collective of artists a free space at their headquarters in Amman to use as a workshop.

Founded in 2017, MMAG is a non-profit art foundation in Amman that supports artists by providing them with a free place to stay, a private work space, funding and mentorship in order to promote “creativity, critical thinking and artistic exploration”, according to the Director of MMAG Noura Salem, who noted that the foundation is currently hosting 26 artists.

Slessor described the location of the workshop as “unique”.

“We have an entire community of artists surrounding us, including clothing designers, architects, painters, ceramic artists and singers. They always drop by and we have coffee and exchange ideas,” Slessor told The Jordan Times.

The techniques the artists are experimenting with include kiln casting, fusing, silk-screen printing and soldering, according to Slessor.

“It’s a way to help artists diversify their practice as glass has the potential to be a lot of things. I’ve made stuff with used glass bottles and broken pieces of glass I found on the street,” he said.

Slessor also noted that one of the collective’s artists is using glass to make various pieces of jewellery, such as cufflinks, pendants and brooches.

According to the United Nation’s website, the year 2022 has been formally declared as the International Year of Glass by the UN General Assembly to celebrate “the past, present and future of glass for a sustainable, equitable and better tomorrow”.

Ghadeer Saeed, a Jordanian artist who is learning glass art with the Zujaj Collective, shared her experience with The Jordan Times.

“I have found that glass art needs taste as much as it needs skill because you need to know how to create something that interacts beautifully with the light and the stuff around it,” Saeed said.

“The feeling you get when you hang a piece of glass artwork and see the sunlight reflecting its colours around the room is amazing,” she continued.

Zaid Wahbah, a Jordanian architect with some experience in the art of stained glass, is also one of the artists in the Zujaj Collective. 

“Zujaj provided me with a community as well as materials and tools I didn’t have access to before. I also learned many new techniques from Scot,” he said.

“When you look at glass, you see a very rigid material, not something that you can shape or play with, but combining art with the transparency of glass makes it more animated,” he said. 

Slessor also worked with students from the International Community School (ICS) in Amman, who visited the workshop with their teacher then designed and painted a glass panel that is now hanging at the school. 

“When my wife retires, we’ll be moving back to Nova Scotia, Canada, where I’ll set up my workshop and hopefully work with schools and disadvantaged kids,” Slessor said, noting that he will be leaving all of his tools for the artists he’s currently working with in Jordan.

After the artists learn and establish themselves, “hopefully” they’ll be able to sell things and continue to spread the craft by organising workshops to teach others, he added.

“As long as they make a little money and spread a little love and a little art, I think that’s pretty good,” Slessor continued.

On September 8, MMAG will be holding a two-day open studio event, where the residing artists, as well as the Zujaj Collective will be displaying their artworks.