BRITISH GLASS BIENNALE 2026

Dates: August 28 – November 1, 2026
Venue: The World of Glass, Chalon Way E, St Helens WA10 1BX, United Kingdom
Exhibition Jury: Tami Landis, Jeffrey Sarmiento, Louis Thompson
Organized by: Glass Art Society (GAS)
Hosted in partnership with: The World of Glass
Official Website: British Glass Biennale 2026

The British Glass Biennale 2026 is now on view at The World of Glass in St Helens, bringing together more than 80 established and emerging artists and offering an exceptional overview of contemporary glass being created in Britain today.

Running through November 1, 2026, the Biennale is the centerpiece of the International Festival of Glass and one of the most significant juried exhibitions devoted to contemporary British glass. The selection ranges from ambitious sculptural works to technically complex kiln-formed, blown, engraved, cast, and mixed-media pieces. All works included in the exhibition are available for purchase.

ARTISTS TO WATCH

Among the established names participating in the 2026 edition is Colin Reid, one of the internationally recognized pioneers of kiln-cast glass. His work has been exhibited extensively at major international art fairs and institutions and is represented in important museum and private collections.

Heike Brachlow is particularly known for her extraordinary research into color in glass, combining artistic practice with an extensive exploration of glass chemistry and color systems.

Alison Kinnaird MBE, one of Britain’s leading glass engravers, has works in major international collections and has played an important role in advancing contemporary engraved glass.

Anthony Amoako-Attah has attracted growing international attention for a practice that combines glass with themes of identity, migration, textiles, and cultural memory.

Other notable participants include Bruno Romanelli, Geoffrey Mann, James Devereux, Elliot Walker, Michele Oberdieck, Alison Lowry, Jeff Zimmer, Christopher Day, Joanna Manousis, Amanda Simmons, and many others.

The official selection reflects both the extraordinary depth of Britain’s glassmaking tradition and the new directions contemporary artists are taking the material — technically, conceptually, and sculpturally.

For collectors, designers, glass enthusiasts, and anyone interested in understanding where contemporary British glass is heading, the British Glass Biennale remains an important international reference point.

THE 2026 JURY

This year’s works were selected by an international jury bringing together museum expertise, artistic practice, education, and contemporary glass scholarship.

Tami Landis is Curator of Postwar and Contemporary Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass, where she oversees a collection of more than 13,000 works dating from 1945 to the present. She is also editor of New Glass Review.

Jeffrey Sarmiento, Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University, is internationally known for his pioneering use of print processes in kiln-formed glass and has worked as an artist, educator, curator, and juror across Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America.

Louis Thompson is an internationally exhibited British glass artist whose work is represented in museum collections in the UK, Europe, Japan, and the United States. He was also the recipient of the Best Exhibit Prize at the British Glass Biennale in 2012.

Michele Oberdieck - Japanes Blossom

 

British Glass Biennale 2026
August 28 – November 1, 2026
The World of Glass — St Helens, United Kingdom

Official Biennale:
British Glass Biennale — Glass Art Society

Venue:
The World of Glass

From the MuranoNet archive:
2024 British Glass Biennale — MuranoNet