Origami

Whay do people find pleasure in folding paper ? most do so because they enjoy making something out of nothing. A sheet of paper is ordinary to us that transform in to a beautiful object can seem miraculous: it is a blank canvas that presents us with an infinite number of creative possibilities. Another reason is simplicity.
Folding paper needs no tools or specialist equipment.It is relaxing, involving and rewarding, too.
THe first papers capable of being folded were produced in China about 2,000 years ago, though there is no evidence to suggest that the Chinese folded paper in decorative way back then. A few dozen ancient Japanese designs survive to the present day, but since the secret of how to produce paper did not reach Japan until several centuries after its invention in China, the exact origins of the craft are obscure.
Traditional Japanese designs have been the inspiration for the recent flood of crative work from Japan and the west, and the Japanese word for paper folding - Origami- has been adopted worldwide. What must have once been a trivial disversion has proven to be a craft of extraordinary richness and wnduring, universal appeal.
There are now sociates of paper folders in several countries around the world who organise exhibition and course, and publish specialist publications on subject.