<sup>News letter from American Craft Museum

Origamic Architecture
International Artists take ancient Japanese art of paper-Folding into New Realms

Exhibition Opens at American Craft Museum
May 18 to September 2, 2001.

NEW YORK-For more than 20years,the Tokyo architect Masahiro Chatani, employing origami, the ancient Japanese art of paper- folding- and adding cut _ paper and pop-up paper engineering concepts _ has been creating works of "origamic architecture," He is considered the leading practitioner of the art. More than 100 works by Chatani, his colleagues Keiko Nakazawa and Takaaki Kihara, and other artists from around the world will be features for the first time in a major American exhibition when Origamic Architecture opens May 18 at the American Craft Museum.

The artists in this startling installation have reproduced _ in size from diminutive to large-scale subjects that range from world-famous architecture to flowers, animals, abstract geometrics and everyday objects. Recreations of important architectural monuments include Frank Lioyd Wright's Fallingwater, his own house and studio, Guggenheim Museum and Robie House; World Financial Center; and New York's signature Chrysler Building. In addition, large-scale, interactive, folding, pop-up buildings, commissioned expressly for the exhibition, encourage direct viewer participation with the works.

"Since its founding in 1956, the American Craft Museum has explored international traditions of craft, both traditional and innovative," says Holly Hotchner, Director of the American Craft Museum. "So we are particularly pleased to present the first significant exhibition of this delightful, surprising and relatively young art form- which blends the traditional and the innovative so ingeniously."

David Revere McFadden, Chief Curator of Museum, notes, "At once whimsical and profound, origamic architecture is an engaging record of the creative process, through which apparently insignificant materials, like plain paper, are transformed by artists into elegant, dynamic and poetic objects. While small and intimate, these works become truly monumental in our imaginations. Origamic architecture invites everybody to enjoy a tour of the world, all contained inside a single piece of folded paper."

The exhibition, Hotchner adds, underscores the American Craft Museum's "commitment to international understanding and awareness generated by artistic and creative activity; reveals the powerful interdependence of art, craft and design in the cultural environment; engages the direct participation of adults and children in the creative process by bringing American audiences in contact with leading Japanese experts in the field; and demonstrates influence of Japanese innovations on a global scale.

Masahiro Chatani says of his art, "To realize the value of the land, its history, its monuments large and small, is to realize one's own value and understand one's place- a truth that most of us come to know in time. Origamic architecture is one of the many ways in which to nurture an appreciation of America's architecture and its legacy, and in a brother, more universal to understand architecture and its role in making the world truly suitable for human life."

The curatorial team responsible for the exhibition includes David R. McFadden, chief curator; Susan Barry, assistant curator; and Yoshiko Ebihara, guest curator. The Museum's Education Department will offer programs designed for adults, children and families that emphasize the significance of the works as well as its interactive and international character. The exhibition installation will be created by the noted international designer Eric Chan.

Origamic Architecture has generated wide interest in the aesthetics of architectural design. Today, spread by internet technology, this new art form has inspired practitioners worldwide. Chatani, professor emeritus at Tokyo Institute of Technology, is one of Japan7s leading architectural educators. With his design partner, Keiko Nakazawa, he has published more than 50 books, exhibited and conducted seminars on the subject; they collaborate frequently with Takaaki Kihara, another featured artist. Participating Origamic Architecture artists include Ingrid Siliakus of the Netherlands and Maria Victoria Garrido of Argentina.

Origamic Architecture, known and appreciated in Japan for more than 20 years, was introduced to the United States in the mid-1980s, McFaddecn noted. Because origamic Architecture is better known abroad than in the U.S. he said, this exhibition will introduce wide and diverse new audiences to the field, and offer museum visitors unique opportunities to appreciate and to create architecture in folded and cut paper.

VISITOR INFORMATION:
The American Craft Museum is located in midtown Manhattan at 40 west 53rd Street,
between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, New York City.

Hours :
Tuesday _ Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ;
Thursday until 8 p.m.;
Monday and majorholidays, closed.

Admission : adults, $5.00;
students and senior citizens, $2.50;
members and chirdrenunder 12, Free;
Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m., pay-what-you-wish

Website :</sup> http://www.americancraftmuseum.org

^{Contact: Patrick Keeffe, Public Relations, (212)956-3535, X113}