VALLE PELLICE - Valley teacher :
Donatella Dianti
Origami teacher
Bibiana
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Donatella Dianti -
The teacher took origami up after living in Tokyo, Japan, the biggest city in the world for a time.
“…I could not understand how people living in one of the largest cities in the world could be so tidy and disciplined, for instance, in the tube, where thousands are travelling all the time and at the same time and yet do not appear to be so strained as people over here, in the western world…”
One of their techniques for relaxing and surviving the strain of every day life, besides massage, ritual baths, zen, is in fact origami.
It is incredible how a simple piece of paper can turn into a flower!
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..A BIT OF HISTORY
Paper was invented in China, in the II century B.C., but the art of making objects by folding it was invented in Japan, in the VI century A.D. The first objects thus obtained, were made in order to contain medicines and spices; quite early, Shinto monks started using them for religious ceremonies and traces can still be found in their temples, such as the zig zag folded paper coils. (O – Sheda and Gohei).
At the beginning of the XI century traditional models appeared, such as the crain, the butterfly, the frog and the crab. At the weddings, nowadays, little “sake” bottles are still sealed inside a paper butterfly.
The art of paper folding spread and became known as “origami” (from “oru” = to fold and “gami” = paper) between 1867 (end of the Edo period) and 1912-1926 (Taisho period) when about 150 new models were invented.
At first, parents used to teach their children how to fold paper, but in the XIXth century it become part of the syllabus in kindergartens, in junior schools and in girls’schools.
In Europe “origami” started later and in more ways than in the East. Paper became known in Europe much later, and only in the Middle Ages did people become interested in cloth folding.
During Renaissance tablecloth and napkin folding became a general mania, at European courts. The table of honour, at the wedding of Henry IVth of France and Maria de’ Medici, was graced by napkins folded in the shapes of fruit and birds.
Wizards and conjurers used “origami” techniques to invent the “troublewit” described by the Jesuit educator Jacques Ozanam in his “Récréations Mathématiques et Physiques”.
XIXth century schoolbooks contained models of a boat, a windmill and a gondola. The art of paper folding became officially part of primary school syllabrises in France, in 1882.
In Italy, Maria Montessori suggested using paper folding so as to stimulate creativeness in children (by the way, Canale 5 will be giving a film on her, the next year 2007, celebrating the 1st centenary of her first school for children, in 1907).
In 1930, L. Moholy-Nagy included paper folding courses among the subjects set by the Bauhaus School of Art.
Akira Yoshizawa, a Japanese master of this art, made a synthesis of all the different traditions which developed in the course of time.
In the 1950’s Yoshizawa invented an international set of symbols, which enables anybody to understand origami diagrams.
In 1955, an American, Gershon Legman, went to live in the south of France and opened an exhibition in Cagnes-sur-Mer, containing 300 models from Japan.
It was the first time works by Akira Yoshizawa were put on show in the West. This first exhibition was followed up by another, at the Reichs museum, Amsterdam, in November, 1955.
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HOW TO BECOME AN EXPERT IN ORIGAMI
In this art only paper is necessary and it can be either very refined, many-coloured paper from Japan, already cut to suit the various origami models; or else common paper, so long as it is thin, even if results will not be so good.
You do not need either scissors or any other tool, except for certain origamis invented by western masters.
You do need concentration, however, and this is why origami is considered curative; in fact, while you are “creating” something, you forget your every-day problems; our mental, inventive and manual capacities improve.
At first, you tend to think you cannot “make it”, that you are not gifted for it, but if you keep at it, you can get good results and discover that you are gifted.
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INFO – COURSES
WHOW: By contacting www.ghironda.com
WHERE:
either at the teacher’s house ore that of the person who wants to follow a course.
WHEN:
Two or three-hours courses, either during the day or in the evening.
ELEMENTARY COURSE: 10 hours
INTERMEDIATE COURSE: 15 hours
ADVANCED COURSE: 20 hours
Dates of the courses will be defined according to the number of people applying to attend and when they enrol.
Classes will be of 5 to 20 pupils. If any children are interested, groups can be made.
WHY:
For personal improvement, for amusement; as a game (there are origami competitions); so as to invent shopwindow settings; to give original and personal touch to a present, adapting it to the person who will receive; to decorate gift parcels, making greetings cards, to decorate Christmas trees and Nativities at Christmas and Halloween and other festivities; parties, wedding keepsake, to made the mid-August “gavettone”, which can be filled with water, even if it is made of paper.
Finally, it helps people to get to know a little about Japanese culture.
BRIEF NOTES
What paper to choose
How to make a square
How to read a diagram
How to make a crease. Level 1, 2 and 3 creases
Rudiments of origami 1 and 2
Square base
Triangular base
Extended bases
Crane base
Frog base
Fish base
Rhombus and kite bases
Windmill base
A few examples of origamis: traditional crane; humming bird, jumping frog; samurai fish; Easter rabbit; little dog; two-colour cat; lotus flower; traditional iris; drinking glass, which can be filled with water; fortune-telling game to put on the table; document case; traditional Japanese box; slippers (if made the right size and with strong enough paper, they can be worn); “sumo” wrestlers.
BRIEF
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by www ghironda.com
