11-Mar-2009

Origami in Japanese means "to fold paper". Origami has its roots in Japan, but over the centuries has spread throughout the world. There are now origami societies in over 40 countries world-wide.

In its basic form, a single sheet of paper is folded to produce a desired result. Popular starting shapes are squares or A4 or similar rectangles. The range of subject is endless:

• animals & birds

• flowers

• geometric shapes and structures

• action models - such as jumping frogs or the famous Flapping Bird which we use as our logo

• decorations

• boxes and containers

• envelopes and letter-folds

• many more

In its purest form there is no use of scissors, glue or additional decoration of any kind, but many paper-folders use means other than "pure" folding when the finished product justifies their use.

Some examples of what you can do are displayed below, and you can find more on the Photo Gallery page:-

Left: Fans by Japanese origami master Yoshihide Momotani

Right: "The Matthew" - part of an origami display at the Central Library, Bristol during the Cabot 500 festival in 1997

Left: Life-size Rhinoceros folded by French paper-folder Eric Joisel, part of the Paris Origami festival in 1998.