Oregami

Oregami

The craft of folding paper to give them different shapes without any cutting or pasting is called Oregami. Although not much is known about its origin, Oregami has been practised in the Orient for centuries.

In fact it has taken the form of (sophisticated art) in Japan where it is specially prized for decorating and for ceremonies. As a form of decorative plaything, Oregami takes the form of birds, fish, insects, animals and geometrical figures, sometimes with flexible parts to imitate the movement of real life objects.

In the west it was introduced first in Germany by Friedrich Frobel (1782-1852) as an art form to be used in German Kindergarten schools by children during the nineteenth century. During the 1930s, an interest in paper folding developed in Spain and South America as well as in the United States and England as a recreational pastime. It also gained popularity as a form of geometrical construction.