To Hans and to all interested folders
for Hans Dybkj?r at http://papirfoldning.dk and via Society:
http://foldning.dk
I put together a Folding History Gallery page on OrigamiMuseum.org at https:
//origamimuseum.org/folding-history-gallery/.
-- Content: With content from David Mitchell and Marc Kirschenbaum's
interview with Samiel (Sam) Randlett
-- Note: I have paused from work on my websites, all accessible at
https://KindlingCreativity.org from Origami Place and the Origami Museum,
and it will be some time until I continue.
A detailed summary was written by my friend Julia Bloom who read the late
David Lister's whole Lister List, but Mitchell noted that facts were
incorrect, so I took it down.
-------------
I was interested is writing an Origami History book, and still wish to own a
good one, so I wrote a book outline below around 2015.
Some people disagree with some of my facts listed. I would be so happy to
have a consensus on the facts by the origami community to be shared with a
global audience:
Origami History
Summary ~ 2015 by Lisa B. Corfman
1) Acknowledgements
2) Introduction: What Origami Is
3) Paper Evolution into Early Origami Traces
a) Papyrus: First manufactured in the 4th millennium BCE, documentation
of this dates between 2560-2550 BCE.
b) Invention of Paper: Paper was invented in 107 BCE in China. The
first true sheet was produced in 105 CE by Chinese eunuch Ts’ai Lun. Used
fabric, tree bark, old rags, fish net, and the like.
c) Access to Paper: Wood pulp suggested in 1719
d) Early Origami Traces
i. With these potentially foldable materials, many speculate that the
act of folding may have occurred any time after such materials came to
existence.
ii. Europe: There are some records of quality origami in Europe in
1400’s.
iii. Only in recent year with paper in a commodity has origami developed
into a popular practice.
4) The Beginning Origami As We Know It: Growth in the 1900’s
a) Diagraming: The Yoshizawa-Randlett System
b) Gaining Popularity: In 1900’s cardboard box traveled around Europe
where, at each destination, a new origami model was added to the box and
mailed to the next person; circulation averaged one year, all according to
Israeli origami expert Paul Jackson.
c) Foundations:
i. In Spain, an origami club was founded in 1938, it is the longest
lived club and it still thrives today
ii. Origami in American: Pioneers, Lillian Oppenheimer significance
* Alice Gray, Gay Gross, Natalie Epstein, Alan Kaplan, Robert Neale,
Florence Temko, Gwen Williams, and other people, Michael Shall founded The
Friends of The Origami Center of America
* In 1980 The Friends was incorporated as an all-volunteer,
not-for-profit, tax-exempt, cultural and educational arts organization. We
are registered as a 501(c)3 charitable corporation. In 1987, we officially
purchased Lillian's supplies business, which we run as mail-order only. By
the time Lillian died, in 1992, The Friends had achieved and even exceeded
Michael's dream. Effective July 1, 1994, The Friends of The Origami Center
of America became OrigamiUSA.
d) People: Oldest living Japanese origami master (as of December 17,
2015): Yoshihide Momotani (born in 1928)
e) Commerce: Bug wars - 1980’s and 90’s. The result is the
sophistication of origami today.
5) New Directions
a) Conventions and national and local groups
i. How they evolved, where you can find the convention, what happens at
conventions and who makes them possible
* Conventions are not new, but their popularity and access is
increasing
ii. What origami organizations or groups exist and what are their
origins.
b) Exhibits and Museums,
i. Ex 1: Origami Museum of Zaragoza - EMOZ
* The first museum in Europe dedicated to the art of Origami, opened
December 18, 2013.
* A meeting place for folders and origami enthusiasts alike. In its
nine rooms, the visitors take a tour through the history of origami as well
as admiring a valuable collection of original artworks by the best origami
folders and creators in the world.
* The temporary exhibition and origami models in them are renewed
every three months, opening a new thematic exhibition each time. It is also
a place in which to learn the art of 'papiroflexia' -origami in Spanish- on
introductory workshops.
ii. Ex 2: Nippon Origami Museum
* The museum took me an hour or so to admire and take pictures of:
there were nature themed origami parks, momiji (red maple leaves) and
animals, historical depiction of the 忠臣藏chushingura (ronin 47) at the
castle fight scenes, whimsical farm houses with fox and birds on the roof,
and farmers/ fish market with cat starring longingly at the fish...it's
wondrous way to appreciate the arts and culture of Japan.
c) Social Media,
i. YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Group lists (ex: O-List), Crowd Funding,
etc.
6) Contemporary Origami and Recent Pioneers
a) Pioneers of European, Asian, etc (there are many, and I will
interview them & share their contemporary techniques)
Ex: American Pioneers: Wensdy Whitehead - Shovel folding; Heart Transplant
technique | Lisa B. Corfman - Mixed media art depicting origami: b. 1980,
Boston, introduced at age 11, interest began in college at age 21, studied
under…, pioneered…, etc (For Corfman & Whitehead:
http://www.charlesrivermuseum.org/blog/2015/8/22/temporary-exhibit-artists-t
alk-origami. OrigamiUSA Contest: Origami By Children (OBC)
7) Glossary
a) Origami terms and definitions
8) Bibliography
9) Index (with page numbers)
a) Names
b) Events and other terms
Lisa at OrigamiMuseum.org
