: the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (SISJAC); Norwich University of the Arts (NUA); the Economic Botany Collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Kew); and the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA). But in actuality it was individuals, and the happy confluence of their interconnections, that made it all happen. And while this resulted in a bit of confusion because all the events were not listed in a single place, it engendered cross-fertilization between artists, papermakers, historians, and locals. Washi Inspires Norwich Prue Dobinson, local papermaker and secretary of IAPMA, brought contemporary paper art to the city in the form of three substantial exhibitions and related activities. Collectively titled The Art and Soul of Paper, these shows exhibited work by over 55 artists from around the world. Starting at Mandell's Gallery in the heart of the historic city center, one could wander down the charming cobblestoned Elm Hill (pausing along the way to admire paper dresses appropriately displayed in a shop window) to the Anteros Arts Foundation in a Tudor merchant's house. The sheer range and quality of the work displayed in these atmospheric surroundings were inspiring. Further afield, artwork was also shown at artshoproject, a vibrant community space in a residential neighborhood, where people with disabilities learn the skills needed to run an art-supply store and gallery. IAPMA supported the publication of a full-color catalog. A few blocks from Mandell's and Anteros, Washi: The Art of Japanese Paper was on view at the NUA gallery. The exhibition combined old and new, with papers and paper artifacts from Kew's portion of the nineteenth-century Parkes Collection1 shown alongside full-size sheets of the papers assembled at the turn of the millennium for inclusion in the recently published Washi: The Soul of Japan. (See Akemi Martin's review of this twelve-volume publication following this article. —Ed.) It is notable that none of these materials had been displayed in Britain before, though they are available to researchers in Kew's Economic Botany collection.2 Sainsbury fellow Nancy Broadbent Casserley worked on developing the show and wrote the accompanying book, Washi: The Art of Japanese Paper. It was no coincidence that The Art and Soul of Paper and the Washi exhibition were held at the same time. Dobinson notes, "We wanted a joint exhibition of historic Japanese (Parkes Collection) and contemporary handmade papers and paper art to be complementary— to widen the audience of each and enrich the experience."3 The one-day conference, Washi: The Art of Japanese Paper, provided a broad array of presentations to foster appreciation of washi and the culture around Japanese papermaking. The morning session was introduced by SISJAC director Dr. Simon Kaner, who then translated for Sakata Yoshie as she spoke about her life in paper. A highlight was the video footage she collected while researching her book on Japanese papermaking songs. Earlier in the week, Sakata shared some of these songs in a public performance with Nagauta musicians (a style of music best known as accompaniment to Kabuki) and a dancer brought over especially from Japan for the occasion. The day continued with Elaine Cooper, artist and cultural ambassador to Mino, showing her documentary on papermaking in that area. Rob Shepherd, of Shepherd's Bookbinding in London, charted Japanese paper's recent rise in popularity through his own experience using katazome and chiyogami papers as endpapers in fine binding work. The afternoon session, introduced by Dr. Mark Nesbitt of Kew, began with Nancy Casserley's discussion of the history of the Parkes Collection and British interest in Japanese papermaking methods. Artist Rebecca Salter then spoke about the deep influence her study of Japanese woodblock printing in Kyoto continues to exert on her work. Lastly, I spoke about the history and techniques of coloring Japanese paper with natural dyes. The next day, Echizen papermakers Naruko Tetsuro and Kasai Shinji gave sold-out demonstrations for thirty and held a master class for ten people at NUA. Earlier in the week they had given a special master class for the art school students. There were plenty of other activities, including receptions, gallery talks (including one by me on my installation at artshoproject), and a workshop by Dobinson on papermaking with plant fibers. She fused Western and Japanese papermaking styles, using New Zealand flax, pineapple, bamboo, crocosmia, and bulrush with natural formation aids and indigo dye. Since most of the events were within ten minutes walk of one another, it was easy to meander and discover the city along the way. One could take a break and visit the thousand-year-old cathedral, marveling at the thought that washi was developing halfway around the world at the same time it was being built. Norwich itself is a wonderful example of how history and tradition can be integrated into modern life. In these surroundings, where hand-hewn churches and modern conveniences rub elbows, it is easy to feel that the past has value in the present. And what made the events particularly special was their blending of the historical and the contemporary, connecting the living tradition of Japanese paper to those of us whom it continues to inspire. ___________ notes 1. The rest of the Parkes Collection is in the V&A, as profiled in Mina Takahashi's article in Hand Papermaking, vol. 20, no. 2 (Winter 2005). See also Hans Schmoller's book Mr. Gladstone's Washi: A Survey of Reports on the Manufactures of Paper in Japan: The Parkes Report of 1871 (Newtown, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 1984) 2. A copy of Washi: The Soul of Japan is available for study at Kew. 3. Prue Dobinson, email message to the author, May 21, 2013.
