CfC and BOS conventions in Colchester

Discussion panel about preserving the legacy of origami creators at CfC. Left to right: Bodo Haag, Mitya Miller, Michał Kosmulski, Tony O’Hare and Ilan Garibi. Photograph by Wojtek Burczyk.

My display at CfC and BOS origami conventions in Colchester, 2024

Earlier in April, I attended two origami conventions in Colchester, UK: the CfC (Convention for Creators) and BOS (British Origami Society) spring convention. Having two conventions back to back, each with its own style and highlights, was very convenient, and the two complemented each other well.

CfC is all about presentations and discussions, but has no workshops, typical for most other conventions, including the BOS one. We managed, however, to perform some oversized folding in the evening. I found all the talks and discussions interesting, including those which didn’t seem so when you just looked at the title. My biggest surprise was Michael Shannon’s talk about using LEDs to illuminate origami models, which based on the title I expected to be rather dull, but which quickly turned out to be a fascinating dive into designing models with conductive yet foldable wires glued onto paper in such way that they form the expected electric circuit in 3D after the model is folded. Since the group was small (30-something participants), all talks were interactive and followed by (sometimes hefty) discussions. The range of topics was too broad to even mention here. I myself was, together with Brian Chan and Jens Kober, a participant of a panel about origami and AI organized by Lee Armstrong and Tung Ken Lam. Later, I led a panel on preserving the legacy of famous origamists, to which I invited Ilan Garibi, Bodo Haag, Tony O’Hare and Mitya Miller.

The BOS convention started on Saturday morning as the CfC was slowly closing. A more typical convention with model exhibitions and workshops (I taught my Star a la Fujimoto III), it still offered some unique elements such as the exhibition review and the opportunity for a guided tour of the BOS library (more on that hopefully in a later blog post). The majority of CfC participants stayed for the BOS convention while well over a hundred others arrived, and so we had to spill from the historical Minories building into the contrasting, very modern Firstsite gallery right next door. Our model exhibition was open to the public, a move I was happy about. I also enjoyed Colchester a lot as a sightseeing destination. Overall, these were four very creative days.