Noah’s Ark touches dry land…

In the early days of my origami history, I enjoyed putting together collections of models to make scenes: I assembled a Fox Hunt, a Lion family, and St George at the Dragon, as well as others less successful. During a spring clean of my archives, I’ve discovered a box labelled Noah’s Ark, which I’d almost forgotten.

Originating from the late ’70s, the scene uses original designs by Martin Wall, Max Hulme and myself. I folded some of Akira Yoshizawa’s animals to the best of my abilities, and everything was to scale as far as possible. I designed an Ark with a gangway, and a new Noah figure, who seems to be saying to the animals two by two: “Get up those stairs!”

The last time the full scene was on display was at a BOS exhibition at the Gateway Arts Centre in Shrewsbury, in October 1985.

From the old photos of this event, I’ve managed to compile this inventory of designs appearing at the Gateway.

Wall: Pigs, Crocodiles, Mice, Seals, Turtles

Hulme: Camels

Yoshizawa (folded by Brill): Bears, Pandas, Giraffes

Brill: Noah, Ark, Gangway, Elephants, Lions, Horses, Kangaroos, Hippos, Goats

Carefully stored for more than 30 years, the collection is still in good condition as Assia’s pictures here show.

This pig by Martin Wall has stood the test of time particularly well: in the 70’s, we had deduced how to use the wet folding technique pioneered by Yoshizawa, and Martin’s pig seems to have been made from a sheet of particularly suitable pink 90 gsm Ingres. My memory tells me that he used a blintz windmill base for this and many other quadrupeds.

Many models have been borrowed or reassigned over the years, so the scene is now incomplete. It would need some work and enthusiasm to bring back to exhibition standard, but who knows, one day…?