People of all ages gathered amid polka-dot cranes and paper flowers at Cal State Long Beach on Sunday to learn and practice origami techniques at the twentieth annual Origami Festival.
Tables in the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden crowded with children, adults and seniors who learned basic techniques that beginners could use to work their way up to more intricate levels of folding.
The festival’s theme this year was Senbazaru, or 1,000 cranes, one that Assistant Director of Education at the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden Alison Redfoot said was appropriate, as the garden has crafted many paper cranes throughout the past year.
“We want people to be able to make art and have that confidence,” Redfoot said. “The language is paper. They’re talking with their fingers.”
According to Japanese culture, the holy crane lives for 1,000 years. Redfoot said one paper crane is crafted for each year and completing the 1,000 cranes is said to bring good luck to the person who folds them, along with a wish at the end.
At the festival, visitors admired advanced origami techniques, including original geometric origami by CSULB professor Galen Pickett. Some cranes were also made with unconventional materials, like newspaper advertisements, Redfoot said.
According the Redfoot, though, the self-satisfaction does not stop at the abstract. She said origami is excellent therapy for mental ailments, reducing stress and improving acuity in memorization.
Monica Macintyre, who has Parkinson’s disease, said origami has helped to make her physical drawbacks more bearable.
“It helps with focus, hand-eye coordination, self-satisfaction and patience,” Macintyre said.
Although the festival has been around for 20 years, Redfoot said, it has been a “big” event for only the last 15 years. She said that when the festival first began, it consisted of one table and one instructor, and now preparation for the event must start as early as winter.
CSULB alumna Josephine Poitevin said she used to participate in the event as a student and now brings her children with her. She said she hopes they will gain “an appreciation of Japanese culture [and] a shared interest that we can learn and do together.”
Japanese major Trammell Williams said that volunteers put an extensive amount of time and work into the festival.
“We’ve been preparing since winter,” Williams said. “It’s a lot of work, a lot of hours. Just to string the one thousand cranes takes a couple of hours, but it’s all worth it in the end.”