Dima Srouji, founder of Hollow Forms, is a Palestinian architect and artist working in interdisciplinary research-based projects. At the end of 2016, Dima returned to Palestine after graduating with a Masters degree in Architecture from Yale University. She worked with Riwaq to re-familiarize herself with the larger context of Palestine and its rich rural landscape.
Dima visited the village of Jaba’ on multiple occasions where she met the village’s glassblowers, father and son, Abu Marwan and Marwan Twam. The majority of the glassblowers’ work is technical with a focus on chemistry sets, and they shared with her their desire to experiment and produce new items.
Today, Dima has learned the art of glassblowing. After exchanging ideas and deploying her skills as a trained architect and in using 3D computer software and spatial thinking, Dima’s collaboration with the glassblowers creates a new medium of interaction. Merging traditional glassblowing with an intuitive and abstract designs, the distance between the designer and object dissipates and the result is stunning and powerful artwork.
Collaborating with local glassblowers, Dima produced 5 collections of glass that have been exhibited in London, Dubai, Amman, and Palestine. The products are beautiful and unique vessels that give this centuries-old tradition a contemporary twist. As Dima once said in an interview, “This is not a sentimental or nostalgic project. It is an attempt at reactivating the industry and reviving traditional craft while learning the ancient techniques used to draw inspiration from them.” Throughout this journey, Dima has also engaged in archaeological research on the history of glassblowing and has dug up remarkable traditions and connections. For example, Dima explains the source of silica for glassmaking used to come from a river south of Akka/Acre called Na’ameen river. This is part of her new project, in which she researches the archaeology of glassblowing and replicates artefacts of glass products displaced in museums in London and New York. Dima emphasizes that there is still so much to learn, research, and document about our traditional handicrafts and glassblowing is only her first step into preserving and reviving local heritage.
Her glassmaking project became a much more personal experience when after three years of collaboration with the glassblowers, Dima realized by coincidence that Abu Marwan was the one who produced wedding giveaways for her parents’ wedding some 30 years ago. This project has developed from its initial purpose of shedding light on the history of our cultural heritage into a much deeper personal story.
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