By Thien-Kieu Lam (Kagoshima 2003-2006), an artist who is producing Bound in Japan. Bound in Japan is a community book art project that aims to promote awareness about diversity in Japan and enhance intercultural understanding by engaging native and non-native residents in the creation and sharing of book art.
Pull open the covers and rows of “flags” pop up in salute! And thus Hedi Kyle’s invention became known as the flag book. With so many pieces, it looks complicated but is relatively easy and fun to assemble. The flag book structure was the focus of my second demo class which met during November and December of last year.
My five dedicated participants are all former residents of Japan. One is a native Japanese, and the others had either taught in Japan or studied there. Over the course of five sessions, the participants created a model of the structure, did writing exercises to generate content, and produced the final product.
Two of the books can be seen in the above picture. Erin’s book (left) focuses on the contrast between the calm and chaos she found in Japan, and Danielle’s book (right) indulges in her love of Japanese onomatopoeia and is accompanied by English haiku.
To see more photos from the class, go to the Bound in Japan blog.
