Origami Marks 25 Years Of HKSAR

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Central & Western District Office invited 29-year-old origami artist Kade Chan to hold an exhibition called: “Celebrating peace & prosperity in Hong Kong through paper folding,” at Pacific Place in Admiralty.

Mr Chan said his fascination with origami began at the age of 12 when he saw a folding dragon made by a Japanese origami master. Since then he has turned a hobby into art.

New era 

“The theme of these origami artworks is inspired from our homeland, Hong Kong, including the wild bull, turtle, fiddler crab and the salt water crocodile ‘Pui Pui’,” Mr Chan explained.

“These origami can represent Hong Kong because all these artworks start from a piece of paper. After different folding methods, they become an artwork. Just like Hong Kong, it faced different challenges in the past 25 years when it returned to the motherland. However, we have a brilliant situation now.

“The Phoenix, for example, means ‘rebirth from nirvana’, like Hong Kong going through years of challenges, and then afterwards it can be reborn into a new era.”

Hobby to art 

To make the origami appear more lifelike, Mr Chan used a special painting technique. Painting the edges increased the sense of three-dimensionality and layering while also making the origami look not like paper but like a sculpture.

Mr Chan said he not only focuses on how to fold the paper, but also does research before starting work. He usually needs two to three weeks of study before embarking on a new origami project, while making the artwork itself can involve several hours of folding.

“The most challenging part is how to make the artwork from a piece of paper. There are many overlapping parts; it will become thicker and more difficult to fold. That is why we say 70% of the time for preparation work, and the rest of the 30% for making the piece,” he explained.

To appreciate these works of art, visit Level 1 of Pacific Place from now until July 10.