IS THE UNITED NATIONS' INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF GLASS. Who knew? For this unexpected celebration, the global organisation has hailed the material's countless uses - from the optical fibres that keep the internet going to storing Covid vaccines. Glass sheets are essential to solar cells; telescope glass optics help scientists study the universe; and, of course, there's glass art and its ability to show the full colour spectrum. Thousands of events are planned internationally to mark the year - and until late October, two exhibitions highlighting local glass art are on in Pretoria, at the Pretoria Art Museum and St Lorient Fashion & Art Gallery, iyog2022.org
Glass is integral to technology today, but the sand-based material has a long history. There is naturally occurring volcanic glass such as obsidian, but the earliest examples of humans manufacturing glass date to
