The wonder of glass beads on show

Artstation’s latest exhibition Bead Archaeology takes visitors on a journey into the past looking at ancient glass bead making techniques and their influence on contemporary bead-making in New Zealand. Opening on 1 February, Bead Archaeology features glass beads, glass jewellery, and glass sculpture by nine artists from The New Zealand Glass Bead Artists (NZGBA).

Over the course of the exhibition, the NZGBA will also run their ‘Release a Bead’ project; releasing more than 100 handmade glass beads around Ponsonby for the public to find.

Central to the exhibition will be a large-scale world map, with examples of beads for visitors to examine, and information about the history of glass bead-making.

“Beads are known as one of the oldest forms of art and have been used for tens of thousands of years. Interestingly, beads are not merely decorative items and desire for them has lead to several technological revolutions,”says artist Isla Osborne.

As part of the exhibition, NZGBA are running five glass bead-making and jewellery techniques workshops at Artstation. For more information on these workshops visit www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/artstation or phone Artstation 09 3763221.