Elementary education Alyssa O’Connor looks at Hebron Glass Collection vases at Saper Galleries, 433 Albert Ave., on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012. O’Connor was there with her poetry class. Julia Nagy/The State News
Hidden away in Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank, is a form of artwork rarely seen outside the Middle East. Using a long metal hollow tube, the artist picks up molten recycled glass in an 1,800-degree furnace and then blows through the tube to expand the glass.
The efforts result in a type of artwork most Americans would be unfamiliar with. That’s why Roy Saper, the owner of Saper Galleries, 433 Albert, wanted it for his gallery.
“I knew about the Hebron glass, and I knew it was really rare and nobody could ever go to Hebron because it’s a war zone,” Saper said. “It’s a very dangerous place to be, like much of the Middle East. But I knew I had to go there.”
Saper’s mission was easier said than done. He said the experience of going to Palestine with his wife and son was unreal.
“What I learned is it’s easy to get in, but hard to get out. To get out you have to go to Israel, and they don’t let just anybody out. If you have some kind of Palestinian connection, there will be difficulties.”
Saper said the Hebron glass now is a rarity.
“There were 14 studios in Hebron making glass, and now there is only one family, after glass has been produced in Hebron for a couple thousand years at least,” Saper said. “They’re down to the last family. My feeling was I have to go there and get that glass and bring it back … It’s really exciting to get to share something with our community like that, that they would never see otherwise.”
The owner’s drive to display rare artworks is not a new passion.
“For 34 years what I’ve done is make every effort to display for our community works of art that they otherwise would never see,” he said.
It is this quality that makes Liz Fuller, a Saper Galleries employee, so pleased with her work.
“Every day is a learning experience,” Fuller said. “It’s an amazing place to work, especially being an artist and getting to see everything we have here.”
Art history and visual culture professor Susan Bandes said it is important for people, especially college students, to experience art from other parts of the world and know its history.
“I think it gives us a broader perspective than we normally would have, and it also puts current events into a cultural context,” Bandes said.
Saper said the collection is the perfect opportunity for Americans to experience other cultures.
“It’s totally unique and different, and nobody will see it this large and significant anywhere else in this country,” Saper said.
The Hebron Glass Collection will be on display at Saper Galleries for the month of October.
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