Dear origami Friends, I’m excited to share my dream with you and ask you to become part of it.
I am raising funds for Origami House Colonia, the upcoming museum of paperfolding in Uruguay. To make a contribution, please visit: igg.me/at/OHC We aim to open by September, 2016. I rely in the origami community for contributions because you are the front line who understand the importance of this project. How cool it would be one day when you tell your grandchildren: “I helped create one of the first museums of paperfolding in the world”! For many years I’ve been collecting historical documents and models. They will form the base of the museum collection. Among the artists represented in the collection I can mention: Victor Coeurjoly, Kade Chan, Román Díaz, Tomoko Fuse, Paul Fresco, Ilan Garibi, Roberto Gretter, Isa Klein, Alexander Kurth, Ron Koh, Goran Konjevod, Robert Lang, Ekaterina Lukasheva, Jun Maekawa, Herman Mariano, Sejin Park, Ángel Morollón, Peter Stein, Annarosa Ventura, Stephan Weber, Makoto Yamaguchi. In addition to that, I’m very excited to announce that Folding Paper, the Infinite Possibilities of Origami, the groundbreaking exhibition that toured the US for four years and just ended last month, agreed to transfer most of the artwork to the museum in Colonia, Uruguay. I am forever thankful to Meher McArthur, the exhibition’s curator, and International Art & Artists, the non-profit that organized the exhibition. I am also thankful to the many artists who agreed to donate their models. Among them: Krystyna and Wojtek Burczyk, Joel Cooper, Brian Chan, Erik and Martin Demaine, Giang Dinh, Christine Edison, Shuki Kato, Eric Gjerde, Miri Golan, Tran Trung Hieu, Tom Hull, the late Roy Iwaki (through the kindness of his relatives), Paul Jackson, Ruth Kitagawa, Daniel Kwan, Robert Lang, Linda Mihara, Bernie Peyton, Andrea Russo, Victoria Sedova, Heinz Strobl, Nicolas Terry, and Polly Verity. The museum of paperfolding in Colonia will also house two collections of historic significance. One is the Ligia Montoya collection of books, letters and original folded models. The other is the Gershon Legman collection of historical documents and letters from origami pioneers such as Neal Elias (USA), Robert Harbin (South Africa/UK), Gershon Legman (USA/France), David Lister (UK), Ligia Montoya (Argentina), Lillian Oppenheimer (USA), Sam Randlett (USA), George Rhoads (USA), Vicente Solórzano Sagredo (Spain/Argentina), Akira Yoshizawa (Japan), and others. The archives will be open to researchers studying the history of paperfolding. I will continue receiving models from established masters and talented young creators and interpreters. Colonia del Sacramento, in Uruguay, where the museum house is located, (more information here: igg.me/at/OHC) may not be the center of the world, I agree. But a small museum, in a beautiful tourist destination (which is exactly what Colonia is), may play an important role in education and conservation. It will be a laboratory where ideas can be tested, reproduced, and shared. It may become an artist residence. It may be a model for others to imitate so in the future more museums of paperfolding will populate the world! And you can become part of this dream now. With everyone's help, it will be a museum like no other. To read more about this story and to contribute, please go to: igg.me/at/OHC. Any small amount will be helpful. Indigeogo is a crowdfunding platform and it is a safe and trusted site. If you cannot support, please help spread the word among your friends. I’m also available for any question you may have. Sincerely, Laura Rozenberg
