In February 2016, Belgian glass artist Michèle Vanvlasselaer had the opportunity to visit Gaza for the first time and to present her work to the students of the University of Palestine.

The trip to Gaza was a revelation and she returned buzzing with ideas. Inspired, Michèle decided to create, with a group of friends, a new initiative called GLAZZA: an association to support artistic and educational projects in the visual arts. The aim is to re-intoduce the art of stained glass windows into Gazan architecture and construction.

After various other visits to Gaza, a successful workshop for children was organised together with UNRWA in the summer of 2016 as part of the Summer Fun Weeks. The results of this workshop have been shown to the public during an exhibition, first in Brussels, and early 2017 also in Gaza.

During the summer, Michèle has also given a workshop on glass art during the TVET Summer Camps, organised by Islamic Relief Palestine, in cooperation with the Belgian Development Agency. The idea behind the summer camps is to try and change the negative attitude towards TVET in the Gaza Strip and increase the enrolment of TVET  students, which is at the moment very low notwithstanding the high number of job opportinuties in this field. The summer camps gave the students of general education the chance to practice different technical vocations and understand better what TVET is all about.

Michèle is now planning to take the lead in a course on glass windows at the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS) in Gaza.  She will train a team of students and artists to work together on stained glass windows for the private sector in Gaza. GLAZZA is also researching the possibility to export stained glass windows globally.

This pilot course will target graduates in Interior Design and Arts and Crafts from UCAS who will be able to attend an intensive course in stained glass, lasting for six months. After this pilot project, the project will be evaluated, but the long-term aim is to develop a fully functioning independent training department focussing on the art and craftsmanship of stained glass windows in Gaza. 

For updates, a video about the project and more information, take a look at the website of GLAZZA: http://glazza.eu/glazza-in-gaza/