Nawal Amer: A Jerusalemite Artist Who Gives Life to Glass

In the front courtyard of a Jerusalem home built during the Ottoman era, the branches of ornamental and fruit-bearing trees hang over the ancient stone entrance. Amid the folds of those historic stones, the artistic journey of Nawal Amer was born—a journey through which she sees glass as far more than a silent material.

Jerusalem Story knocked on an old iron door on Ibn Khaldun Street, near the Old City. Behind it, Nawal greeted us with a lively smile, inviting us into her workshop, which she calls a “studio.” Crossing its threshold, we stepped into a world of glass, where sunlight filtered through two windows and harmonized with the colored glass scattered in every corner, waiting for this artist’s fingers to pick up a piece and grant it a new life.

Nawal was born in Jerusalem, on September 15, 2001, to a father who was a refugee from the city of Lydda and carried a Palestinian West Bank identity card (the “green” ID), and to a mother from the long-established al-Afifi family from Jerusalem. She later moved to Ramallah, where she spent the first seven years of her life among her father’s family, who had been displaced from Lydda in 1948.

Before beginning work on a new glass artwork, Nawal spoke a little about herself. She explained that she received her education up to the second grade at the Greek Catholic School of Our Lady of the Annunciation in Ramallah, before transferring to Dar Al-Tifel Al-Arabi School in Jerusalem, where she graduated from secondary school.

The young woman fell silent for a moment before deciding to speak about the exhausting circumstances her parents endured while navigating a fragmented life between Ramallah and Jerusalem—experiences whose effects remain with her to this day.

“We lived in Jerusalem with my mother, because my father held a West Bank ID [see Precarious Status]. She would take my sisters and me to a point beyond the Qalandiya military checkpoint, where my father would be waiting for us in his car to drive us to school. After classes, he would drive us back to the same point so we could get into my mother’s car and return once again to Jerusalem [see Closure and Access to Jerusalem]. Those journeys, and the Separation Wall that was part of our daily routine [see The Separation Wall], were reflected in my university graduation project.”

In 2009, at age eight, Nawal settled permanently in Jerusalem. Her father was only permitted to enter the city through entry permits issued by Israel.

As the years passed, the little girl grew up, and her relationship with Jerusalem began to take shape. She says the city cannot truly be described in words, and that she simply feels a profound emotional connection to it, as it occupies a deep place in her heart.

Nawal applied to the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem to study fashion and jewelry design. She successfully passed all stages of the admissions process except for the personal interview.

“I was accepted instead into the ceramics and glass design program. I remember crying a lot, because I had no desire to study this specialty. But my perspective changed completely the moment I laid eyes on glass. At that point, I felt that God had drawn a path for me that was more beautiful than anything I had dreamed of.”

After falling in love with glass at first sight, Nawal began creating artworks from scratch. Her graduation project, titled Baytuna Amer (Our Home Is Full), was perhaps one of the largest undertakings of her young artistic career.

“My father owned a flower shop in Ramallah, where I spent a great deal of time arranging flowers with him and helping with the work. So, I decided that flowers would become the central element of my graduation project, which included 539 transparent glass flowers and 79 colored glass flowers.”

The transparent flowers stretched over four meters and wrapped around the colored flowers, which viewers could approach but could not physically reach.

For the text accompanying Our Home Is Full, Nawal wrote:

Speaking about Our Home Is Full, Nawal said: “I believe that every Palestinian artist’s work naturally takes on a political dimension. Through this piece, I wanted to speak about something that involves many people—about my father, my relationship with him, and how I lived a difficult life between two cities.”

Flowers became a defining element of her artistic work, and she produced hundreds of transparent pieces because, as she explained, “color was stolen from the flower, just as the Separation Wall surrounding Jerusalem stole a large part of many people’s lives.”

The colored flowers symbolize the beautiful moments and experiences Nawal had between the West Bank and Jerusalem. Yet they grew upon bricks and asphalt, alluding to the hardships of life.

Before opening the valves on the cooking gas cylinder and oxygen tank to begin shaping a new glass art piece, we asked her about her dreams. Smiling, she said they were many and varied. On a personal level, she wants to become an internationally recognized artist, and she has already begun pursuing this goal by continually innovating and participating in international exhibitions.

“At exhibitions, I always explain how my work is connected to the homeland. News reports cover passing events, but artists delve into the details of daily life and possess the ability to convey the experiences and realities that people face.”

This young artist is also determined to ensure that glass continues to have a presence in art exhibitions, since its use in this way remains uncommon locally. Her greatest dream, however, is to establish a Palestinian academy or institute dedicated to teaching the art of glassmaking, because anyone wishing to pursue this specialization is currently forced to turn to Israeli schools.

The glow of the flame signaled the birth of another new artwork in Nawal’s hands as she skillfully manipulated the transparent and colored glass, as though dancing with the fire itself.

She carefully contemplated the blending of colors, enriching the new piece at times with crushed glass and at other times with glass powder. Within minutes, the raw glass tubes had transformed into a green leaf that would require many additional hours before reaching its final form. With this work, Nawal plans to participate in an upcoming art exhibition in Jerusalem titled Danadeesh Sitti (My Grandmother’s Trinkets), which will be hosted by Al-Hoash later this month.