November 19 – December 30, 2022
“Light Up the World”
Along with clean water’s impact on general health, it’s hard to imagine an element more crucial to human well being than light. Now, more than ever, we need to remind each other of the light we carry within us, that we share with our community, and the larger world.
The Sandwich Glass Museum’s winter exhibition “Light up the World” is this reminder, and a celebration of life and light as we enter the upcoming Winter Season.
Notable New England based artists have committed to create specific works for this exhibit; some will be illuminated sculptures and others will be inspired by the concept of bringing light and joy to the world. Contemporary pieces will be integrated with select pieces from the Museum’s collection which historically were a special part of lighting the world in which they were created.
The Museum is excited to share these contemporary and historic works in this special exhibition, opening November 18 and running through March 19th, 2023.
Light is celebrated by most cultures throughout the world, and in the darkest months people are brought together with festivals and rituals
that remind us of light’s positive, sustaining and healing power.
For Christians, Christmas is the ritualization of hope and positivity, marked with lit trees and ornamentation.
In the Jewish Faith, Hanukkah is a celebration of dedication, purification and delivery from evil. The word Hanukkah in Hebrew also means “education,” and rabbis and Jewish educators try to instill in their congregants and students the notion that the holiday celebrates strengths, perseverance, and continuity.
Observed by more than a billion people across faiths, the Indian festival of light “Diwali” is India’s most important festival of the year—a time to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil.
During Loy Krathong, a Thai festival of light, the candle is used to venerate with light, while the krathong’s floating away symbolises letting go of all one’s hatred, anger, and defilements. People sometimes place personal moments on the krathong as a symbol of letting go of past transgressions and negative thoughts.
Each of these cultural practices will be referenced in this exhibition, encompassing the positivity that diverse communities are capable of sharing.
