The talk will go through Carla Salem’s journey of discovering the ancient craft of Japanese papermaking.

Synopsis

The talk will go through Carla Salem’s journey of discovering the ancient craft of Japanese papermaking, also known as washi, and how it influenced her artistic vision and practice. Salem will tell us more about how she adopted the process of making washi from natural materials, such as mulberry bark, hemp, and rice straw as well as how the process of making washi is closely related to nature, reflecting the seasons, the environment, and the culture of Japan. Carla will also demonstrate some of the techniques and tools used to create different processes, such as chigiri-e (torn paper collage), kiri-e (cut paper art), and origami (paper folding). In parallel, a selection of Salem's paper works will be showcased revealing how a humble sheet can be a medium to explore themes such as identity, memory, migration, and resilience.

About Carla Salem

Carla Salem is a papermaker and a printmaker whose work explores words and languages. Having lived in Japan for seven years, Salem merges the Japanese language and culture with her native Arabic. She explores the surface and texture of her self-made mulberry papers (washi) and emphasizes on its interaction with light.