SHE is a pioneering, contemporary Japanese traditional paper washi artist. She became interested in the material, handmade paper, and started creating objects when washi was exclusively used for traditional Japanese art and crafts. She has been working with paper fibre for more than 30 years and has exhibited over 20 countries around the world. In addition to her paper works of art, she has also created stage sets and costumes and designed products for domestic interiors, such as lighting and wallpaper. She is Kyoko Ibe. “In the early 1970s, after getting my Master's at the Kyoto Institute and starting to teach in art school, I first discovered the unique quality of washi, which I couldn't find in any other materials," she told The Egyptian Gazette in an interview. "I found it light, soft, durable, flexible and warm, like a window through which I could touch the truth and the beauty of nature. When holding a sheet up against the light, I could see the fibres arranged by the water. All the paper consists of is a few pure, cleaned fibres, equally distributed and dried in the air. Ibe is in Cairo, to attend her exhibition 'Paper Tales'. In the 1990s, she said, a Japanese paper historian found a book, written by a British scholar, containing information about Japan's early activities to open itself to the world market. Japan had decided to participate in the Vienna Expo of 1873, exhibiting all the best handicrafts from around Japan, including more than 400 different kinds of washi. The book stated that the whole collection went to the German National Library in Leipzig. The Japanese historian asked Kyoko to take a look at the collection when she was putting on a show in Germany in 1993. "Surprisingly, when I visited the library for the first time, no-one knew about this hidden treasure. The collection had survived two world wars, and 15 big boxes full of washi had been left in the corner of their warehouse totally forgotten. "I was so shocked, excited and impressed by the big volume and variety. I'd opened a veritable Pandora's box!" the 68-year-old artist recalled. "I persuaded them to start research and got the backup of Japanese scholars to help the German side. It took more than three years to put all 8,000 pieces on a database and the collection turned out to be the biggest in the world." This experience was an important turning point for her; ever since she's been devoted to pre-industrial washi production. "I was confident that washi was the material with which I could continue working all my life. Since then, I've been studying all about washi in our culture. I'm still studying it today." The title of her exhibition is ‘Hogosho', which refers to an old document, whose information is out of date. The pieces in her exhibition are the visualisation of how she perceives nature, history and culture. "By using old papers and documents, I would like to show people that we can create new art that is good for the soul," she says, pointing to one of her works, in which she "opens her arms with the joy of life and looks up to the sky and begins dialogue with the ancestors in her mind". Kyoko has visited el-Minya University, Assiut University and Luxor's Faculty of Arts in Upper Egypt, meeting with the professors and deans there. Kyoko is the first Japanese visiting art professor to these institutions. "They are very enthusiastic to promote cultural exchange. Visiting Upper Egypt for the first time, I was deeply impressed and moved by the old culture there. Now I hope they'll visit us as well," she said. "Egypt is an extraordinary, fascinating country. It's good for my soul and I would love to feel that I have shown the people here the possibilities offered by a different culture and concept of life." ‘Paper Tales' is being held at Darb 1718 Contemporary Art and Culture Centre, Qasr el-Shams Street, Al-Fakhareen, Old Cairo (behind the Hanging Church and Amr Ibn el-Aas Mosque. It's closed tomorrow and ends on Friday, when it's open from 4pm to 10pm.
