Carleton Sakura Society members are learning the traditional art of Japanese stab book binding this November in two Friday Book Arts Lab workshops.
Sydney Town, the Carleton Sakura Society communications manager said she had been searching for an opportunity to give her peers a taste of Japanese history at no cost.
“We want to do more with language and culture, and having this opportunity is a first step.”
Town contacted Patti Harper, co-founder of the Book Arts Lab and a senior archivist at Carleton, who suggested Watoji, a traditional Japanese book binding technique, as the focus for the workshop.
As a self-proclaimed “paper nerd,” Harper said she went on a deep dive of the craft, including the cultural significance of the paper-making process itself.
“For some Japanese papers, the process is culturally protected, so only certain people can make it,” she said. “For others, the raw materials are [scarce] which means that the paper can only be used for the most reverent of things.”
Harper said to pay respect to the paper and ensure attendees could comfortably make mistakes with their inexperience of the technique, she substituted wrapping paper and regular printer paper for special Japanese paper.
At each stage in the process, Harper demonstrated the task on her own book before members of the Book Arts Lab made the rounds to help attendees follow her example.
After pages had been punctured and glue was set to dry, students visited the centre table to select their string of choice.
For Jaime Sexton, a second-year Carleton computer science student, the workshop gave a look into the magic of the Book Arts Lab altogether.
“It was nice to use all these interesting tools that you don’t really get to be around unless you do this stuff,” she said. “Lots of cool arts go on here and the people are really helpful.”
As members of the Carleton Sakura Society threaded their needles, quiet fell over the room.
To Harper, that peace is the true power of art.
“Any artistic endeavour helps to lower your cortisol levels, your stress, your anxiety, and creates better mental health,” she said. “It’s a great support for students taking a break from studies for a little bit.”
While both Watoji workshops were fully booked, the Book Arts Lab is working on take-home book binding kits from other projects’ leftover scraps.
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Featured image by Jaidyn Gonsalves/the Charlatan.
