[Photo provided to China Daily]

"From a distance the skulls look threatening, but their mosaic surface and the exotic modeling lure visitors to approach to have a closer look," Thurmer says.

Touch of brilliance

Football love presented by Brazilian artist

Catch is a glass lamp by US artist Lindsey Adelman in which melted glass was blown from brass links to dribble to form a bulb.

Dutch artist Ellen Urselmann's Surreal Section Glasses changes colors when viewers change positions. Her White Balloons nods to life's fragility, while Pump With Glass Bell references tensions between the future and the past through the theme of expansion and collapse.

"All the works are playful and challenge your understanding of glass as a material - they go much further beyond what you know about glass, which may only appear as a double glazing, salad bowls, red wine glass and light bulbs at home," visitor Matthias Muller says.

His favorite work is a pair of green chairs made of beer bottles.

"They look compact, smooth, graceful with strength," Muller says.

The exhibition is co-curated by Coordination Asia and the Shanghai Museum of Glass. As the only museum that is devoted to the art, history, craft, innovation and many other aspects of glass in the city, it also hosts workshops and do-it-yourself programs for visitors to try their talent as glassblowers. Children can paint on glass at the DIY workshop.

"It's my first time to witness how a chunk of red-hot, dough-like glass can turn into a beautiful jar, and I feel so excited when I complete the piece," says Zhu Liqiang, a 40-year-old visitor who recently finished his first work - a pumpkin-shaped sugar jar.

If you go

Shanghai Museum of Glass

685 Changjiang Xilu (West Road), Baoshan district, Shanghai.

9:30 am-5 pm, until Aug 30, except Mondays; 5 pm-9 pm Saturdays.

Admission: 60 yuan ($10) (including the 50 yuan admission for main halls).

021-6618-1970.

http://en.shmog.org