I have just returned from Japan, where I conducted five paper cutting workshops, including one at Miyamoto School in Funabashi, where 200 students participated. I taught the students how to make figures from used and discarded paper. This initiative is called “The Waste Paper People,” and it is a project that focuses on seeing the beauty and possibilities in recycled materials.
This was the fourth time I went to Japan to hold paper cutting workshops, and this workshop at Miyamoto School had a very special setup. I taught 25 students in a specific classroom. This was then livestreamed to over 200 students who were sitting in six other classrooms spread across the school’s three floors. It sounds wild, but it worked surprisingly well. The students made some delightful and imaginative paper cuts, and it was a pleasure to see their creativity unfold.
In the workshop, I taught how to make figures from used and discarded paper. It is a form of upcycling. My paper cuts are made from used wrapping paper left over after Christmas presents were unwrapped last Christmas Eve. In Denmark, we sort used wrapping paper as residual waste, so it is usually burned. I thought it might be used for something else, and some completely new cuts came out of it, which I call “The Waste Paper People.”
Before my trip to Japan, I had practiced the Japanese language intensively, which turned out to be a great help during my stay. Fortunately, I had an interpreter who helped me when it often became too difficult. But being able to have a simple conversation made the meeting with the Japanese less formal and more relaxed. I had also practiced my introduction to the workshop, which was entirely in Japanese.
During my stay in Japan, I also visited two exhibitions in Funabashi, where works from my 20 years as a paper cutter were presented to a broad Japanese audience.
On my Facebook page, there are lots of photos from the trip. For example, see this post with photos from the workshop at Miyamoto School
