Special Events

Key Presentation: Linda Lundström’s “Off the Wall with Washi!”

A sneak peek of Linda Lundström with what's in store!

Friday, June 3, 2011
3 pm - 6 pm

Location: The Japanese Paper Place
Address: 77 Brock Ave., west of Dufferin and north of Queen Street West

Wondering how the event went? Go to the Linda Lundström page to see pictures, or check out our galleries on Facebook here:

• Washi Off the Wall - 1 of 3
• Washi Off the Wall - 2 of 3 - The Winner!
• Washi Off the Wall - 3 of 3 - still to come...

Talk by David Pepper: Give Me that Old-Time Washi
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Location: The Japan Foundation, Toronto
Address: 131 Bloor St. West, 2nd Floor of the Colonnade Building

Wondering how the event went? David, drawing from his long history both as an artist and as a collector of traditional Japanese artifacts since he bought an old samurai sword in 1958, shared a slide presentation on the historical use of washi, and brought a number of actual artifacts for display and discussion. Our thanks to David for his time, The Japan Foundation for their space, and trust that the many attendees found it enlightening!

Talk by Nieves Carrasco: Paper Surroundings
June 13, 2011
7 pm - 8 pm

Location: The Japanese Paper Place
Address: 77 Brock Ave., west of Dufferin and north of Queen Street West
Admission: Free

For many years, textile artist Nieves Carrasco has used shibori, a resist dyeing technique, to create patterns on cloth. It is this same technique, modified to suit washi, that she used in the pieces shown in the exhibition "Paper Surroundings: large format shibori-dyed washi" at The Department gallery in Toronto, June 2-19, 2011.

Since she started experimenting with washi in 2007, Nieves was seduced by this beautiful material which absorbs the dye so well and can be easily shaped to create patterns. Although fragile while wet, washi is strong enough to withstand a dye bath. In the process, it becomes stiffer, acquires a new sheen, and beautifully keeps the memory of the shaping hand.

Wondering how the talk went? Nieves discussed the resists used to create patterns for the pieces in this exhibition, through a slideshow of the process, as well as some actual samples. You can see some pictures from the presentation on Facebook here.