AJA Open Access
October 2024 (128.4)
Museum Review
An Interdisciplinary Exhibition on Ancient Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass
The exhibition Dig Deeper: Discovering an Ancient Glass Workshop at the Corning Museum of Glass transported the visitor to the ruins of a production site in Roman Palestine. Among the interactive displays of its artifacts, the museumgoer learned about networks, connections, and means of production in the ancient Mediterranean world. Expertly contextualized data from the excavations at the ancient workshop, hands-on material, interactive game consoles, and experimental archaeology anchored this brilliant exhibition. Collectively, this combination made for an engaging and compelling exhibition, and one which impressively spoke to a diverse intergenerational audience. Dig Deeper focused on the excavation of a glass workshop in Jalame el-Asafna (located near Haifa, Israel) and how archaeologists, glass artists, and scientists continue to collaborate to learn more about this important site. As a museum devoted to a single material, and one with a long reputation in the study of ancient glass, this exhibition is well situated within the orbit of the Corning Museum of Glass and its mission focused on art, history, and science.