The Fragility of Flight highlights the environmental links between suspected declining bird populations in the Uists and climate change in a project combining ornithology and origami. This exhibition has been created using elements made by primary schoolchildren in the Uists and visitors to Taigh Chearsabhagh museum & Arts Centre.
The project started with guided visits by school groups to Balranald RSPB reserve where some wader species are found in their highest worldwide densities. Workshops in the schools involved examination of global environmental issues, in particular increases in air travel.
Fine Art PhD. student, Hiroko Oshima, led workshops in the Japanese art of Origami with recycled paper to teach children how to make various styles of origami birds and planes.
Visitors are invited to create an origami bird to be included in the exhibition. Educational visits to the exhibition will result in facts about waste awareness being attached to the birds on the walls. Origami birds will also be posted around the world to encourage further environmental education and promote better use of the Earth’s resources.