Listen to the broadcast version of this story, which aired on Monday, May 22, on Kootenay Morning:
By Jaime Frederick, Local Journalism Inititative
Need to slow down, put the phone away and connect with your community? The Nelson Public Library, in partnership with the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy (CBAL) and the Nelson Izu-Shi Friendship Society, invites the community to explore the art of origami, or paper folding, while also learning about the history and cultural significance of the practice. Part of the library’s Digital Detox Series, the event is in celebration of Asian Heritage Month and will give participants of all ages and abilities a chance to put their electronic devices aside and try the meditative craft of origami.
Nelson Public Library’s Fraser Sutherland says it’s also intended to highlight the Japanese tradition of senbazuru, the practice of folding 1,000 paper cranes as a symbol of peace, hope, and healing.
“Yeah, the paper cranes are supposed to kind of symbolize, at least in our project, just kind of a basic general feeling of healing and hope for a community,” says Sutherland. “It also acts as a community project, a project where community can come together and share in this communal experience of creation.”
Katherine Van Der Veen, from CBAL, also mentions the story, immortalized in books and culture, of Sadako, a young Japanese girl living in Hiroshima in 1945. Sadako was one of thousands of affected people who developed leukemia after the United States bombed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan at the end of World War II.
“When she was in the hospital, one of the nurses read to her the historical story of the 1,000 paper cranes,” says Van Der Veen. “And the concept behind the paper cranes in Japanese history is that somebody that makes 1,000 paper cranes, they’ll have peace, prosperity, health, and well-being…. Unfortunately, she passed away before she was able to finish the 1,000 cranes, but it’s inspired other kids and people around the world to work together to make the 1,000 paper cranes.”
Sutherland says the library’s public project to fold 1,000 paper cranes throughout the month of May is progressing well and hopes that people will attend the event on Friday to help them reach their goal. In addition to folding paper cranes, participants will also hear from Van Der Veen with an overview of the history of origami.
“It has been traditionally linked to being a Japanese paper craft, but it also has roots in the Middle East and in Germany,” she says. “So we’re going to talk about the history in Japan, and then how some of the techniques from Germany and the Middle East got brought into Japanese paper folding….
“In traditional origami, they… used to use adhesives, such as glue or tape to put pieces of paper together to make bigger folds and bigger designs. But then the purists prefer to use just a single piece of paper. And then there’s also people that do a technique called wet origami, so they would take a piece of paper or cardboard and make it wet and then make their shapes that way, and it gives it a softer, more lifelike effect.”
Due to the technical nature of origami, Van Der Veen notes that it is a great practice to help people of all ages develop and maintain their fine motor skills. She highlights an interesting connection with the German educator and founder of the kindergarten movement, Friedrich Froebel, in the 1800s.
“[Froebel] was looking for activities for children to do that would encourage them to develop their fine motor skills, as well as follow directions, and paper folding was something that was accessible and relatively easy to do,” she says. “So a lot of the techniques that we have in modern origami actually come from Friedrich’s work with kids in a kindergarten environment. So it was an easy craft for kids to do or an easy activity. I don’t think he really thought of it as a craft. I think it was more of a training technique and a discipline…. Something that they could engage with….
“For me, coming from a literacy standpoint, I thought it was really interesting because kids that are 4 or 5 sometimes have a hard time following detailed instructions. But when it’s something that they have a visual–like if you fold it this way, you get a paper airplane, or if you do it this way, you get a box. There’s something that’s very rewarding for them, so that links the literacy piece over.”
The origami evening is free and takes place at the Nelson Public Library this Friday, May 29th, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. All materials will be provided. For more information on the event and the library’s Digital Detox Series, visit the library’s website.
