Idea
It all started eighteen months ago, while I visited Bernie Peyton at his home. While driving to the aquarium in Monterey, we discussed the PRO convention that happened ten years ago.
The Pacific Rim Origami gathering was for creators only. The idea was to discuss the theory and not to practice folding. This concept of a verbal meeting seemed very strange to me five years ago, but it made total sense at that time. As an active origami artist who decided to do that for a living, I find I do have the need to talk, discuss, be updated, and be inspired by the work of others.
Come to think of that, like every dentist or teacher, an origami artist can benefit from being part of a supportive community, in which anyone can share their knowledge and ideas. Actually, for us, origamists, it's even more natural to do just so, since origami is all about sharing, isn’t it?
Team work
I realised that this is a project that can happen only through cooperation. We approached Robert Lang (USA), Jorge Pardo (Spain), Viviane Berty (France), Nicolas Terry (France), and later Dave Brill (England) to form a committee of seven to act as a directorate.
Talking with Nicolas, I discovered that OORAA had thought about the idea of such a conference a long time ago, and things started to fall into place.
We set the location in Lyon, the same place where the Ultimate Origami Convention is taking place. This also set the timing, since the only open weekend they had in 2017 was the 7th of July.
Plan
The first step was to decide who should be invited. How do we define a creator? What about heads of organisations? YouTube figures?
We decided to narrow it down to creators only. We had to have a line, and we set it at 15 original models; better if they were published somewhere.
The list was formed quickly, and I was amazed to see the number is within the hundreds only; less than 300!
We opened registration, saying that only 100 creators can join, as this is the limit of the hotel. Building up slowly but steadily, we reached the first day of the convention with 82 people.
Program
We opened a Google Form to collect ideas and suggestions for talks, panels, and workshops. Quickly, we had 32 approved suggestions we could divide into six categories:
Being Professional; Design; Diagrams; Education; Exhibitions; Paper and Other Materials
We planned to have a very airy program, with 20-minute talks in one-hour slots. We felt that the main issue would be the discussions that would arise after the talk, and we gave it a lot of time.
For some parts of the day, we planned two talks in parallel, to make sure all suggestions will be included.
Arrivals
After exploring Lyon on Thursday morning, I was in the hotel lobby just at the right time when the first creators started to appear. It was amazing to see the common feature they all had - a big, wide smile on their faces. Every newcomer was a creator, worthy to be a Guest of Honor in any convention. We had people coming from Australia, South Korea, Vietnam, the USA, Canada, Israel, and all over Europe.
Immediately, groups were formed to talk, discuss, and share images of the latest creations and adventures.
Execution
The next day, we started with a talk by Viviane: “The challenge of simplicity”.
Presenting her archer, Viviane explained what makes a simple model look great, and how you need to cheat sometimes and forget about reality. Flat paper can be considered as void, for example, as you can see on the bow.
From there, it all went downhill.
We had a panel to discuss how you can make a living out of origami, with Robert Lang, as one of the veterans, as well as Dewi BRUNET, who only started a year ago. I asked the panel what obstacles they expected to meet, and what they really encountered. We discovered that most requests (nine out of ten) are evaporating, and one needs a lot of commitment and determination till the tenth truly brings money.
Another panel, led by Dave Bril, discussed the fine art of pricing a commissioned work. We agreed that we all tend to underprice our work and time. So the rule is “Double the price and add ten percent.” Double because we underestimate ourselves, and ten percent, so you can lower your price after some bargaining.
What is the best way to publish your diagrams? If there is a best way. We heard about self-publishing, crowdfunding (Kickstarter, for example), or making a book by approaching a well-known publisher.
Bernie Peyton shared his experience from Origami Universe, presented in Chi Mei museum in Vietnam, in which many of us participated and felt the (horror) stories while they happened, never realizing the full scope of the difficulties Bernie and Uyen Nguyen went through.
The best panel for me was “My Favorite Paper”. One by one, we had 18 creators stepping up to show their best paper, a model folded from it, and an example sheet to allow the crowd to hold and feel it.
Unlike my worries that all will present Elephant Hide ( I am a tessellator, after all), the list of favorite papers was amazingly versatile.
To name a few, we had Japanese calligraphy paper; toilet paper; ARCHES watercolor paper, Vietnamese handmade paper; Kozo paper; a sheet of Jon Gerards paper; and last but not least, Dave’s favorite one was Printer paper, highly available with a great shade of white…
Conclusion
“Never done before” is where the best opportunities await for you. And now, after it was done, it is clear how important and needed it is.
We all want to talk, learn, and be inspired by our own community. Next time in 2020, Spain! Be prepared!
All images by Ilan Garibi. The first is by Bernie Peyton.