The Paper Path Exhibition Review
Hello! Thanks to the warm support and generous cooperation of our artisans and supporting organizations, we are pleased to announce that we have successfully held an exhibition of dynamic and diverse contemporary Washi works in London. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who helped bring this to fruition.
Below, we share a review from an IAPMA (International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists) member.
Photo by Dot Young.
By Judith Staines, UK
An exhibition at APT Gallery in South-East London drew artists, washi and Japan enthusiasts in August. This was a special show, and the journey was well rewarded.
‘‘The Paper Path – Journeys in Japanese Washi’ brought together Japanese, US and British artists – Uma Kinoshita, Tsuguo Yanai, Yoshiko Fuyjinami, Patty Hudak, Dot Young and Naoki Tagai.
Dot Young, a Scottish artist based in London who makes sculptural paper art works, travelled to Japan in early 2025 on a research visit to key paper making areas. In Ogawa, Mino, Echizen and Ino, she learned about the plants, harvesting, processes and washi heritage. Plans for the London exhibition evolved from this trip. Young curated the show, exploring how Japanese Washi is used by contemporary artists, with a sensitivity to nature, sustainability and responsible art practice. The space was filled with an intense curiosity about the material – a slowed, sensory encounter taking in ecological barometers, memory of place, poetic resonances, outsized kimono forms and experiments mingling washi with other elements. Workshops and events complemented the exhibition.
Seiko Musashi from Office Harvest / Ogawa Washi in Saitama contributed knowledge and expertise and helped visitors to APT learn more about washi. Ogawa Washi is used by Patty Hudak in her impressive large-scale works in the exhibition that refined its unique properties, layering mokuhanga prints on unsized and sized washi. Musashi’s podcast interview with Andre Zadorozny on The Unfinished Print explores her involvement with the heritage washi business. The project was supported by The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and The Toshiaki Ogasawara Memorial Foundation.
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