Lumièna ◆ June 15, 2016
Hello, everyone.
Today, I would like to take a look back into the World Amigurumi Exhibition Vol.2.
As I mentioned in my last post, I visited NY for the first time to see this exhibition.
I still vividly remember the excitement and joy of entering the Amigurumi heaven.
So many countless Amigurumi from all over the world (46 countries!) were displayed on the walls, and hung from the ceiling.
To join this exhibition, RESOBOX gave artists an interesting theme, “make an Amigurumi collection that represents something special about your country”.
Something special about Japan ….. humm …..
I thought about this theme.
Various ideas were floating around in my head.
As Japan has a distinct four seasons, Japanese people take great pleasure in the transition of seasons and enjoying seasonal events.
This sensibility to the seasons might be something special about Japan.
After pretty long thought, I decided to crochet “Wagashi” and “Summer in Japan”.
Have you ever had the Japanese sweets called “Wagashi” before?
“Wagashi” are traditional Japanese sweets, which are often served with Japanese green tea.
“Wagashi” tends to focus on the seasons – either mimic a seasonal nature, such as flower or birds, or uses a flavor available only during that time of the year.
This is my Amigurumi, “Sakura Mochi”.
“Sakura Mochi” is a spring sweet, made of pink-colored rice cake (mochi) with a red bean paste (anko) center, and wrapped in a pickled cherry blossom (sakura) leaf.
I proudly showed this at Vogue Knitting live.
Unfortunately, some visitors glanced at this and said “Oh! SUSHI~~~!!”
…. Oh Nooooooo!! sob sob.
Japanese summer is very hot and humid.
But there are many vibrant events in summer.
People believe that the spirits of their ancestors come back to their homes to be reunited with their family during “OBON”.
Summer festivals and fireworks are essential parts of Japanese summer tradition.
“Kingyo Sukui (Goldfish Scooping) ” is a traditional Japanese game and is very popular for children.
You can find a stall for this activity at summer festivals.
During my NY stay, I went to RESOBOX every evening to see Amigurumi and have a nice dinner.
I enjoyed looking around in the Amigurumi world every day and noticed that so many jellyfish? or octopus? Amigurumi were there.
It seemed very strange to me.
Are jellyfish a recent Amigurumi trend now?
Am I way behind??
Please let me know if anyone knew about this!
In my opinion, Japanese artists tend to pay great attention to details on their work.
Their Amigurumi were representing not only their country but also their local regions.
They cherish all the small details and seem to not worry even if other people don’t understand what their pieces meant.
I received warm local love from Japanese artists’ Amigurumi and felt very proud of it.
“Making Amigurumi that represent something special about your country” was a wonderful theme.
I thought about my country anew and had a great opportunity to know the different cultures from all over the world.
Moreover, the best thing is that I learned everything through the lovely Amigurumi!!
I am already looking forward to joining the next World Amigurumi Exhibition.
Can’t wait!
Okay, that’s all for today.
Thank you for reading.
Until next time….. Happy Amigurumi~~~~!